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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


.>di,  Sa,»u^   ■^'""^ 


"•VMtdi,  Sit>' 


n^M^  (OcDmsrumE^o 


H"  /— ^ 


Cornell  University 


A  HISTORY 


BY 

WATERMAN   THOMAS    HEWETT,    A.B.,    Ph.D. 
Professor    of    German    Language    and    Literature 


Volume  One 


THE  UNIVERSITY  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 
1905 


Hi 


COPYBIGHT,   1905,    BY 

THE  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY  OF  NEW  YORK 
All  Rights  Reserved 


PUBLICATION  OFFICE 
41  LAFAYKTTE  PLACE 
NEW  YORK,  N.Y.,  U.S.A 


TO  THE  ALUMNI 
WHO  HAVE  STUDIED  IN  THESE  HALLS, 
AND  WHO  HAVE  GONE  FOKTH  TO  A 
LAEGEK  LIFE  BEYOND,  WHOSE  SUCCESS 
IS  OUR  SUCCESS,  WHOSE  HONOE  IS  OUR 
HONOR,  THESE  VOLUMES  ARE  DEDICATED 

BY  THE  AUTHOR 


PREFACE 

THE  foundation  of  Cornell  University  marks 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  higher  education 
in  the  United  States.  Its  origin  is  coeval 
with  the  new  direction  in  modern  learning. 
The  classical  languages,  philosophy,  and  mathemat- 
ics had  formed  the  basis  of  instruction  in  the 
older  colleges.  The  claim  of  modern  languages  as 
instruments  of  literary  culture,  and  their  historical 
study  as  furnishing  a  philological  training  as  far-reach- 
ing and  as  fruitful  in  its  results  as  that  of  the  ancient 
languages,  had  not  been  previously  recognized.  The 
revelations  of  mediaeval  literature,  English,  German, 
French,  Italian,  and  Norse,  were  not  for  the  college 
student  but  for  the  specialist.  History  unveiling  na- 
tional growth,  the  development  of  society  and  civil  in- 
stitutions, the  struggle  of  humanity  for  liberty,  and  the 
expansion  of  the  human  intellect  in  art  and  science 
were,  a  half-century  since,  subjects  unknown  in  the  cur- 
riculum of  many  colleges.  Political  economy  received 
partial  recognition,  but  the  relations  of  labor  and 
capital,  the  study  of  social  conditions,  of  the  rights  of 
the  employed  in  factories  and  mines,  the  whole  theory 
of  punishment,  of  population  and  crime,  were  the 
speculation  of  solitary  thinkers  and  of  a  few  philos- 
ophers. 

Natural  science,  even  experimental  physics,  and 
laboratory  methods  in  chemistry,  were  largely  ignored 
in  instruction.  Scientific  agriculture  had  few  votaries 
and  but  few  students.  Possible  national  wealth  from 
the  scientific  treatment  of  soils  and  forests,  the  care  of 
domestic  animals,  the  investigation  of  insect  pests,  the 
scientific  study  of  fruits  and  grasses,  the  wealth  of  the 


vi         CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

sea  in  fishes,  were  not  popular  but  private  subjects  of 
study.  Training  in  nature-study  was  confined  to  a  few 
observers,  and  not  for  the  masses.  Philosophy  was 
theoretical,  and  the  period  of  experimental  psychology 
had  not  dawned.  The  revelations  of  the  microscope 
and  of  the  spectroscope,  and  the  whole  science  of 
bacteriology,  which  has  transformed  medicine,  were 
but  imperfectly  known.  The  applications  of  electricity, 
which  have  changed  modern  business  and  social  inter- 
course as  well  as  opened  new  pathways  in  science,  had 
not  been  discovered.  To  teach  popular  science,  or 
science  popularly,  was  to  degrade  it.  The  study  of 
agriculture  was  an  inferior  pursuit.  Education  was 
confined  to  a  few  subjects,  and  there  was  a  fixed  cur- 
riculum. 

Under  these  circumstances  Cornell  University  had  its 
birth.  Beyond  the  two  courses  in  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  provided  for  in  the  Act  of  Congress,  the 
constitution  of  the  university  was  largely  due  to  its  first 
president.  Dr.  Andrew  Dickson  White.  Personally  he 
had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  old  education.  Modern 
interests  appealed  to  him  profoundly.  While  recogniz- 
ing what  was  valuable  in  the  education  of  the  past  he 
made  provision  for  and  emphasized  the  new  subjects  in 
science,  literature,  history,  and  sociology.  Instruction 
in  some  subjects  seems  largely  due  to  his  initiative,  as 
in  sociology.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  recognize  the 
importance  of  electricity,  and  to  accord  a  place  to  it  in  a 
university  curriculum.  Freedom  of  study  was  a  car- 
dinal doctrine  of  the  new  university  from  the  first. 
The  absence  of  a  minute  oversight  over  students,  and  a 
large  confidence  in  their  manhood  and  capacity  for  self- 
direction,  was  an  early  feature.  The  higher  education 
for  woman  was  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
university  from  an  early  period  in  its  history. 

Training  for  life  has  been  a  main  purpose  of  all  in- 


PREFACE  vii 


struction.  The  development  of  research  and  the  cor- 
responding growth  of  publication  have  been  features 
of  the  later  development  of  the  university,  and  are  co- 
incident with  the  enlargement  of  its  resources  and  the 
growth  of  graduate  instruction,  which  followed  the  com- 
ing of  President  Adams. 

If  I  should  characterize  the  different  periods  of  uni- 
versity history,  the  first  period  embracing  the  adminis- 
tration of  President  White  would  be  the  formative 
period,  the  second,  that  of  President  Adams,  the  period 
of  organization  and  of  development  based  upon  en- 
larged resources,  while  that  of  President  Schurman 
would  be  the  building  epoch  and  that  of  the  division  into 
colleges. 

A  favorite  expression  of  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage  was : 
"  The  history  of  the  university  is  a  heart  history." 
Its  practical  aims,  and  the  lives  and  the  affections  of 
men,  have  constituted  its  wealth.  As  it  exists  to-day, 
it  is  the  product  of  the  affection,  the  devotion,  the  sacri- 
fice of  those  who  have  endowed  it,  and  of  those  who  have 
taught  within  it.  Here  character  has  been  formed,  and 
the  most  precious  legacy  of  the  university  to  the  nation 
will  be  the  gift  of  its  young  men  who  go  forth  to  con- 
tribute to  its  upbuilding,  as  well  as  the  truth  here  dis- 
covered and  wrought  into  life. 

The  breadth  of  the  curriculum,  the  equal  recognition 
of  classical  and  modern  literature,  history  and  natural 
science,  the  provision  for  training  in  technical  subjects, 
naturally  attracted  students  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  and  even  from  Europe,  giving  to  the  academic 
life  from  the  first  a  cosmopolitan  character.  Out  of 
3,230  students,  fifty-six  per  cent,  are  from  New  York, 
about  twenty-one  per  cent,  from  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  Ohio,  and  Illinois,  five  per  cent,  from  New  Eng- 
land, and  a  little  over  three  and  one-fifth  per  cent,  from 
foreign  countries.     From  the  date  of  the  first  Japanese 


viii      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

student  here  in  1876,  the  late  distinguished  botanist  of 
the  University  of  Tokio,  Professor  Yatabe,  to  1896, 
thirty-four  Japanese  students  had  studied  here,  a  num- 
ber which  has  constantly  increased  both  from  that  coun- 
try as  well  as  from  other  parts  of  the  Orient,  and 
especially  from  the  states  of  South  America. 

The  growth  of  the  university  in  the  number  of  stu- 
dents pursuing  graduate  courses,  as  well  as  the  marked 
increase  of  publications  on  the  part  of  the  faculty  and 
graduate  students,  are  among  the  most  striking  fea- 
tures of  recent  years. 

Before  the  completion  of  the  first  century  of  its  ex- 
istence, one  hundred  thousand  students  will  have 
studied  in  these  halls.  With  each  succeeding  year 
memories  of  friendship,  of  enthusiasm,  of  youthful 
rivalry,  and  of  victory  will  be  associated  more  and  more 
with  the  buildings,  and  the  walks  around  our  campus. 
The  student  of  to-day  is  the  alumnus  of  to-morrow,  and 
the  future  of  the  university  will  be  found  in  the  loyal 
support  of  its  graduates. 

I  am  profoundly  indebted  to  my  colleagues,  whose 
generous  and  valued  co-operation  has  often  been  be- 
stowed in  the  midst  of  other  and  exacting  duties ;  but 
the  grace  with  which  their  assistance  has  been  rendered 
has  made  me  permanently  their  debtor.  To  the  direc- 
tors of  the  several  colleges  I  am  especially  indebted; 
to  Director  Ernest  W.  Huffcut,  B.  S.,  LL.  B.,  of  the 
College  of  Law;  Director  William  M.  Polk,  M.  D.,  LL. 
D.,  of  the  Cornell  University  Medical  College  in  New 
York;  William  F.  Durand,  Ph.  D.,  Acting  Director  of 
Sibley  College ;  Charles  L.  Crandall,  Acting  Director  of 
the  College  of  Civil  Engineering;  Liberty  H.  Bailey, 
Director  of  the  College  of  Agriculture;  James  Law, 
F.  R.  V.  S.,  Director  of  the  New  York  State  Veterinary 
College ;  Abram  T.  Kerr,  B.  S.,  M.  D.,  Secretary  of  the 
Medical  Faculty  in  Ithaca ;  also  to  Charles  E.  Bennett, 


PREFACE  IX 


A  B.,  Litt.  D.,  Professor  of  the  Latin  Language  and 
Literature;  Walter  F.  Willcox,  A.  B,  Ph.  D.,  Dean  of 
the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  Professor  of 
Political  Economy  and  Statistics,  and  to  his  former 
colleague,  Robert  C.  Brooks,  A.  B,  Ph.  D.,  now  m 
Swarthmore  College;  Edward  L.  Nichols,  B.  S.,  Ph.  D., 
Professor  of  Physics;  Captain  Frank  A.  Barton,  M.  E., 
U    S.  A.,  Professor  of  Military  Science  and  Tactics; 
George  L.  Burr,  A.  B.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Mediaeval 
History;  Charles  De  Garmo,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  the 
Science  and  Art  of  Education;  Charles  Mellen  Tyler, 
A.  M.,  D.  D.,  Professor  Emeritus  of  Christian  Ethics 
and  of  the  History  and  Philosophy  of  Religion;  the  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Schmidt,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  the  Semitic 
Languages  and  Literatures;  Ralph  S.  Tarr,  B.  S.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Dynamic  Geology  and  of  Physical  Geography ; 
Edward  F.  Titchener,  M.  A.,  Ph.  D.,  Sage  Professor  of 
Psychology;  James  E.  Creighton,  A.  B.,  Ph.  D.,  Sage 
Professor  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics ;  Evander  McGil- 
vary,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  Sage  Professor  of  Moral  Philos- 
ophy;  William  A.  Hammond,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  Assistant 
Professor  of  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Philosophy  and 
Esthetics;    James    McMahon,    A.    M.,    Professor    of 
Mathematics;  George  F.  Atkinson,  Ph.  B.,  Professor  of 
Botany;  John  H.  Comstock,  B.  S.,  Professor  of  Ento- 
mology and  General  Invertebrate  Zoology ;  Simeon  H. 
Gage,  B.  S.,  Professor  of  Histologj^  and  Embryology ; 
Duncan  Campbell  Lee,  late  Assistant  Professor  of  Elo- 
cution and  Oratory;  also  to  George  W.  Harris,  Ph.  B., 
Librarian,  both  for  the  chapter  on  the  history  of  the 
library,  and  a  biographical  sketch  of  Professor  Willard 
Fiske. 

The  author  has  been  permitted  by  the  editor-in-chief 
of  the  Cornell  Magazine,  Mr.  Willard  A.  Austen,  to  use 
several  articles  upon  Student  Activities,  published  some 
years  since,  when  it  was  under  his  direction.    Among 


X         CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

these  articles  are:  Fraternities,  by  Willard  A.  Austen; 
Football,  by  Ellis  L.  Aldricb;  Convivial  Societies,  by 
J.  G.  Sanderson ;  Social  Life,  by  Jerome  Barker  Land- 
field;  Literary  Societies,  by  Fayette  E.  Moyer;  Base- 
ball, by  Edward  Davis,  and  The  Cornell  Navy,  by  J. 
W.  McCulloh — many  of  which  were  written  from  a 
fresh  study  of  the  sources,  the  facts,  and  the  language 
of  which  have  at  times  been  adopted. 

To  Mr.  John  N.  Ostrom  and  Mr.  Percy  Hagerman, 
for  articles  upon  early  boating,  I  am  indebted,  and  to 
Mr.  C.  E.  Courtney  for  ready  assistance  at  all  times, 
and  for  an  interesting  collection  of  photographs  of 
crews  and  races,  which  I  have  been  permitted  to  use. 
For  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Courtney  I  am  indebted  to  an 
article  published  in  The  Commercial  Travelers'  Maga- 
zine some  years  since,  written  by  Mills  Butler;  also  to 
Dr.  Clark  S.  Northup,  Assistant  Professor  of  the 
English  Language  and  Literature,  for  permission  to 
use  an  address  upon  Sage  Chapel,  delivered  April  1.7, 
1904. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  satisfactory  material  for  the 
biographies  of  several  of  our  most  munificent  benefac- 
tors was  not  available. 

From  the  early  correspondence  of  President  White 
and  of  Mr.  Ezra  Cornell,  I  have  derived  many  facts. 
To  Dr.  White,  whose  presence  among  us  is  a  benedic- 
tion, I  owe  a  constant  kindly  interest  and  most  valuable 
assistance  in  the  interpretation  of  events.  To  many 
others  for  suggestions  and  assistance:  to  the  Hon. 
Francis  M.  Finch,  LL.  D.,  to  the  late  Governor  Alonzo 
B.  Cornell,  and  to  numerous  colleagues  for  the  revision 
of  special  chapters,  I  am  greatly  indebted. 

I  have  sought  in  all  cases  to  verify  accepted  facts 
by  consulting  the  original  sources.  Much  is  pre- 
served in  the  college  press,  and  in  contemporary  jour- 
nals. 


PREFACE  xi 

My  own  indebtedness,  and  that  of  all  who  use  these 
volumes,  will  be  constant  to  my  secretary,  Miss  Lucy 
H.  Ashton.  To  her  continuous  labor  for  nearly  two 
years  much  of  the  material  and  the  accuracy  of  the 
present  work  are  due. 


^.  5^>^.t.oo^%t: ' 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

TA.6S 

The  United  States  Government  and  Higher  Education       .         1 

CHAPTER  II 
The  National  Land  Grant,  and  Later  Congressional  Acts       .       10 

CHAPTER  III 
The    Precursors    of    Cornell    University:     1.  The    People's 

College.     2.  The  New  York  State  Agricultural  College  .       38 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Founder  of  the  University,  the  Hon.  Ezra  Cornell         .       60 

CHAPTER  V 
The    Charter    of    the    University         .....       74 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Management  of  the  Land  Grant;  Mr.  Cornell's  Services      98 

CHAPTER  VII 
The   First  President   of   the   University,   the   Hon.   Andrew 

Dickson  White 115 

CHAPTER  VIII 
Fundamental  Ideas:  1.  The  Liberal  Education  of  the  In- 
dustrial Classes.  2.  The  Equal  Recognition  of  the 
Classes;  Modem  Languages  and  Science  as  Instruments 
of  Culture.  3.  The  Elective  System.  4.  Non-Resident 
Lectures        .........     123 

CHAPTER  IX 

1.  University  Administration.  2.  Alumni  Representation  on 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  3.  Relation  of  the  University  to 
the   Church 141 

CHAPTER  X 

The   Relation   of   the   University   to   the    State.     Ex-officio 

Trustees.      State   Scholars    ......     150 


xiv     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 
CHAPTER  XI 

PAGK 

The  Opening  of  the  University  ......     161 

CHAPTER  XII 
Administration  of  President  White    .....     175 

CHAPTER  Xin 
Administration  of  President  Adams   .....     190 

CHAPTER  XIV 
President  Schurman's  Administration  ....     200 

CHAPTER  XV 
Military  Instruction   ........     233 

CHAPTER  XVI 
Manual   Labor    .........     248 

CHAPTER  XVII 
Co-education       .........     255 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

The  Relation  of  the  University  to  the  Church  .  .  .     267 

CHAPTER  XIX 
The  Alumni 277 

CHAPTER  XX 
The  Campus  and  University  Buildings         ....     302 

CHAPTER  XXI 
The  University  Library       .......     357 

CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Great  Suit  .........     377 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

The  New  York  State  College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell  Uni- 
versity   392 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
Benefactors  •-.......     427 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ezra  Cornell       .......         Frontispiece 

TACING  PAGE 

Justin  Smith  Morrill           .......  16 

Cascadilla  Place           ........  30 

Western  Group  of  University  Buildings       ....  42 

Zeta  Psi 48 

Delta  Kappa  Epsilon  ........  56 

Cornell  University — General  View       .....  64 

Kappa  Sigma     .........  72 

Fall  Creek  Ravine  in  Winter   ......  80 

Registration  Day  at  Cornell  University       ....  92 

Observatory         .........  104 

Phi  Sigma  Kappa       ........  112 

Sigma  Phi 120 

Delta   Upsilon 126 

McGraw  Hall 132 

Trustees — John  De Witt  Warner,  Mynderse  Van  Cleef,  Frank 

Harris  Hiscock,  Robert  Henry  Treman         .         .          .  138 

Sigma  Nu 144 

Delta  Tau  Delta 152 

Founder  and  Faculty  of  Cornell  University,  1868,  1869           .  162 

Sigma  Chi 172 

Commencement   Procession,    Trustees,    President    Schurman 

escorting  Governor  Odell,  June  18,  1902         .  .  .182 

Delta  Phi 194 

Benefactors — William   Henry    Sage,   Dean   Sage,   Frederick 

William  Guiteau,  Daniel  B.  Fayerweather     .          .         .  210 

Chi   Psi 220 

Theta  Delta  Chi 226 

Armory  and  Gymnasium     .......  236 

Samuel   Campbell        ........  244 

Morrill  Hall 250 

Kappa  Alpha 264 

Alpha  Tau  Omega .  272 

XV 


xvi     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

PAGE 

Chi  Psi 290 

Cornell  Alumni  Hall 300 

Cornell  TJniversity  in  1872 — The  Campus  looking  North       .  312 

Beta  Theta  Pi 320 

Barnes  Hall 334 

Goldwin  Smith 348 

The  Library 358 

Reading  Eoom  of  the  Library       ......  362 

The  White  Historical  Library 366 

Jennie  McGraw  Fiske 378 

F.  M.  Finch 382 

Alpha  Delta  Phi 392 

College  of  Agriculture — Liberty  Hyde  Bailey,  Isaac  Phillips 

Roberts,  John  Craig,  Henry  Hiram  Wing   .          .          .  400 

Dairy  Building  .........  414 

College  of  Agriculture — Thomas  Forsyth  Hunt,  Jay  Allan 

Bonsteel,  James  Edward  Rice,  John  Lemuel  Stone         .  420 

Henry  W.   Sage 428 

John   McGraw    . ,  434 

Willard  Fiske .         .  454 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

CHAPTER    I 

THE  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION 

THE  duty  of  the  government  to  support  and 
foster  higher  education  existed  with  the  first 
dream  of  national  independence.  In  October, 
1775,  when  Washington  was  in  camp  in  Cam- 
bridge, Samuel  Blodget,^  who  was  later  distinguished 
as  the  author  of  the  first  formal  work  on  political 
economy  published  in  the  United  States,  remarked  in 
the  presence  of  Generals  Washington  and  Greene,  with 
reference  to  the  injury  which  the  soldiers  were  doing 
to  the  colleges  in  which  they  were  encamped :  '  *  Well, 
to  make  amends  for  these  injuries,  I  hope  after  our 
war  we  shall  erect  a  noble  national  university,  at  which 
the  youths  of  all  the  world  may  be  proud  to  receive 
instruction. ' '  Washington  answered :  ' '  Young  man, 
you  are  a  prophet  inspired  to  speak  what  I  am  confi- 
dent will  one  day  be  realized."  One  of  the  earliest 
provisions  of  the  colonial  governments  was  for  popular 
education,  in  addition  to  which  were  charters  for  pri- 
vate and  county  schools  and  colleges,  which  were  to  be 
supported  by  general  taxation.  In  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1787,  on  May  29,  Charles  Pickering  pro- 
posed that  Congress  should  have  power  to  establish 
and  provide  for  a  national  university  at  the  seat  of 
government  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Madison  pro- 
posed later  that  this  should  be  one  of  the  distinctly 
enumerated  powers  in  the  Constitution.     On  Septem- 

'  Samuel  Blodget's  Economica,  p.  22. 


2        CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ber  14  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Pickering  moved  to  insert 
"power  to  establish  a  university  in  which  no  preference 
or  distinction  should  be  allowed  on  account  of  religion. ' ' 
The  action  proposed  was  lost,  not  from  opposition  to 
the  principle  involved,  but  because  such  an  addition  to 
the  Constitution  would  be  a  superfluity,  since  Congress 
would  possess  exclusive  power  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, which  would  reach  the  object  in  question.  The 
patriot  and  scientist.  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  issued  an 
address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  strongly 
urging  a  Federal  university  as  the  means  of  securing 
to  the  people  an  education  suited  to  the  needs  of  the 
country,  with  post-graduate  scholarships,  and  fellow- 
ships in  connection  with  the  consular  service  and  an 
educated  civil  service.  "  The  people,"  he  said,  "  must 
be  educated  for  the  new  form  of  government  by  an 
education  adapted  to  the  new  and  peculiar  situation 
of  the  country."  President  Washington,  in  his  ad- 
dress to  Congress  on  January  8,  1790,  said:  "  There 
is  nothing  that  can  better  deserve  your  patronage  than 
the  promotion  of  science  and  literature.  Knowledge 
is  in  every  country  the  surest  basis  of  happiness.  In 
one  in  which  the  measures  of  government  receive  their 
impressions  so  immediately  from  the  sense  of  the  com- 
munity as  in  ours,  it  is  proportionably  essential.  .  .  . 
Whether  this  desirable  object  will  be  best  promoted 
by  affording  aids  to  seminaries  of  learning  already 
established,  by  the  institution  of  a  national  university, 
or  by  any  other  expedients,  will  be  worthy  of  a  place 
in  the  deliberations  of  the  legislature. ' '  The  response 
of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives 
to  this  address  was  favorable,  the  latter  saying:  ''  We 
concur  with  you  in  the  sentiment  that  agriculture, 
commerce,  and  manufactures  are  entitled  to  legislative 
protection,  and  that  the  promotion  of  science  and  lit- 
erature will  contribute  to  the  security  of  a  free  gov- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY        3 

eminent.  In  the  progress  of  our  deliberations  we 
shall  not  lose  sight  of  objects  so  worthy  of  our  re- 
gard." Washington  contemplated  also  the  possibility 
of  the  appropriation  of  certain  western  lands  in  aid 
of  education.  Washington's  emphatic  and  repeated 
appeals  to  Congress  found  final  public  expression  in 
his  Farewell  Address  of  1796,  in  which  he  urged  the 
American  people  to  ^'  promote,  as  a  subject  of  primary 
importance,  institutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of 
knowledge.  In  proportion  as  the  structure  of  govern- 
ment gives  force  to  public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that 
the  public  shall  be  enlightened."  By  his  last  will, 
signed  July  9,  1799,  he  expressed  his  regret  that  the 
youth  of  the  United  States  should  be  sent  to  foreign 
countries  for  the  purpose  of  education.  He  be- 
queathed fifty  shares  of  stock  in  the  Potomac  Com- 
pany, of  the  value  of  five  hundred  dollars  each,  to  the 
national  government,  for  the  endowment  of  a  univer- 
sity in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  hoped  thereby 
to  do  away  with  local  attachments  and  state  prejudice. 
Nearly  all  of  Washington's  great  contemporaries  were 
animated  with  a  like  purpose.  Presidents  John 
Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  and 
John  Quincy  Adams  were  eloquent,  in  their  messages 
to  Congress,  in  their  recommendations  of  this  patriotic 
purpose.  Jefferson  held  that  the  revenue  from  the 
tariff  on  foreign  importations  might  be  appropriated 
to  the  great  purpose  of  public  education.^ 

This  early  recognition  of  the  duty  of  the  national 
government  to  promote  higher  education  is  of  impor- 
tance in  considering  the  history  of  the  passage  of  the 
Land  Grant  Act  of  1862,  in  behalf  of  technical  and 
liberal  education,  and  the  various  views  by  which  that 
measure  was  advocated  or  opposed. 

'  See  upon  this  subject    Tfie  Memorial  of  John  W.  Hoyt,  in  regard  to  a 
National  University.     Washington,  1892. 


4        CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  "War  several  of  the 
original  states  claimed  that  their  borders  extended  to 
the  Mississippi  River.  To  the  west  lay  a  vast  extent 
of  country  the  possession  of  which  had  been  deter- 
mined by  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  Virginia,  New 
York,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  even  Georgia, 
claimed  this  country  either  as  included  in  their  orig- 
inal charters  or  as  acquired  by  treaty  with  the  Indians 
or  by  exploration.  The  national  government,  so  far 
as  it  existed  at  this  time,  possessed  no  territory.  All 
the  land  was  included  within  the  borders  of  states.  It 
was  proposed  by  leading  statesmen  that  these  nebulous 
and  conflicting  claims  should  be  surrendered  to  the 
general  government  on  condition  that  the  lands  thus 
ceded  should  be  used  to  pay  the  debt  of  the  war,  and 
for  the  general  good.  Between  the  years  1781  and 
1792,  all  the  states  which  laid  claim  to  this  land  ceded 
their  rights  to  the  nation.  On  June  16,  1783,  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  officers  petitioned  Congress  for 
a  grant  of  land  for  their  services.  Of  these  officers 
two  hundred  and  thirty-one  were  from  New  England 
and  the  Eastern  States.  This  petition  of  the  officers 
of  the  Revolution  failed.  Three  years  later  repre- 
sentatives from  the  officers  met  in  Boston,  and  on 
March  4,  1786,  the  Ohio  Company  was  formed,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  purchase  from  the  national  gov- 
ernment a  million  and  a  half  acres  of  land  in  what 
was  later  Eastern  Ohio. 

A  plan  for  a  state  to  be  established  between  the 
Ohio  River  and  Lake  Erie  was  organized  in  New  Eng- 
land, to  be  settled  by  army  veterans  and  their  families. 
Petitions  of  soldiers  in  favor  of  the  plan  were  for- 
warded to  Congress  through  General  Washington.  It 
was  proposed  that  after  the  pajTuent  of  soldiers  for 
their  services  in  the  war,  the  public  lands  remaining 
should  be  devoted  to  public  purposes,  among  which 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY        5 

was  specified  '*  establishing  schools  and  academies." 
A  proposition  from  the  state  of  Virginia  came  before 
Congress  (1783)  to  devote  one-tenth  of  the  income  of 
the  territory  to  national  interests,  as  the  erecting  of 
fortresses,  the  equipment  of  a  navy,  and  the  *'  found- 
ing of  seminaries  of  learning."     This  act  did  not  pass. 

On  May  20,  1785,  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation 
passed  an  act  for  ' '  locating  and  disposing  of  the  lands 
in  the  Western  Territory."  This  act  contained  the 
provision:  "  There  shall  be  reserved  the  central  sec- 
tion of  every  township  for  the  maintenance  of  public 
schools,  and  the  section  immediately  adjoining  for  the 
support  of  religion,  the  profits  arising  therefrom  in 
both  instances  to  be  applied  forever  according  to  the 
will  of  the  majority  of  male  residents  of  full  age  within 
the  same."  To  Colonel  Timothy  Pickering  of  Massa- 
chusetts, ''  if  to  any  one  man,  is  to  be  attributed  the 
suggestion  which  led  to  the  first  educational  land 
grant. ' '  To  the  Hon.  Rufus  King  the  immediate  merit 
of  embodying  this  principle  in  the  statute  is  due. 
'^  This  reservation  marks  the  beginning  of  the  policy 
which,  uniformly  observed  since  then,  has  set  aside 
one  thirty-sixth  of  the  land  in  each  new  state  for  the 
maintenance  of  public  schools."  The  use  of  this 
national  land  had,  however,  been  separately  advocated 
by  leading  statesmen  of  the  time. 

Generals  Putnam,  Tupper,  and  Parsons  were  active 
in  this  scheme  for  settling  the  new  territory,  but  its 
efficient  agent  before  Congress  was  the  Rev.  Manasseh 
Cutler  of  Hamilton,  Mass.,  a  chaplain  in  the  late  war, 
a  man  of  legal  training,  and  later  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Massachusetts,  a  scholar  whose  scientific 
enthusiasm  and  attainments  in  astronomy  and  botany 
made  him  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  the  most 
eminent  scholars  of  the  world.  Under  the  influence  of 
Dr.   Manasseh   Cutler   the   **  Ordinance   of   1787   for 


6        CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  government  of  the  Northwest  Territory  "  was 
passed.  It  contained  the  memorable  words,  '^  that 
religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to 
good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be 
encouraged."  The  committee  which  reported  this  act 
recommended  that  one  section  in  each  township  should 
be  reserved  for  common  schools,  one  for  the  support 
of  religion,  and  four  townships  for  the  support  of  a 
university.  This  was  subsequently  modified  so  that 
two  townships  should  be  appropriated  ' '  for  a  literary 
institution,  to  be  applied  to  the  intended  object  by  the 
legislature."  Dr.  Cutler's  friends  and  associates 
would  not  embark  in  this  enterprise  unless  these  prin- 
ciples were  unalterably  fixed.  They  demanded  to 
know  on  what  foundations  their  social  organization 
should  rest,  and  hence  the  organic  law  had  to  be  first 
settled.  By  this  action  the  principle  of  national  aid 
to  education  was  established. 

The  sale  of  the  great  tract  of  five  million  acres  to 
the  Ohio  Company  was  closely  associated  with  the 
passage  of  the  ''  Ordinance  of  1787,"  and  determined 
in  part  its  form.  This  act,  so  momentous  in  its 
sequences,  rested  upon  a  compact  between  each  of  the 
original  states  and  the  people  in  the  proposed  terri- 
tory, and  was  to  remain  unalterable  unless  by  mutual 
consent.  It  contained  the  great  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  and  of  the  rights  of  conscience.  By 
it  an  orderly  and  representative  government  was 
secured  to  all  the  people  of  the  Great  Northwest. 
Slavery  was  forever  prohibited  and  public  education 
was  provided.  The  most  eminent  jurists  have  ex- 
pressed their  admiration  for  this  enactment.  Daniel 
Webster  said :  ' '  We  are  accustomed  to  praise  the  law- 
givers of  antiquity,  .  .  .  but  I  doubt  whether  one 
single  law  of  any  lawgiver,  ancient  or  modern,  has  pro- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY        7 


duced  effects  of  more  distinct,  marked,  and  lasting 
character  than  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  .  .  .  It  set 
forth  and  declared  it  to  be  a  high  and  binding  duty  of 
government  to  support  schools  and  advance  the  means 
of  education.  We  see  its  consequences  at  this  moment, 
and  we  shall  never  cease  to  see  them  perhaps  while 
the  Ohio  flows."  ^  Judge  Story,  in  his  work  on  the 
Constitution,  said:  This  Ordinance  "  has  ever  since 
constituted  in  most  respects  the  model  of  all  our  ter- 
ritorial governments,  and  is  equally  remarkable  for 
the  brevity  and  exactness  of  its  text  and  for  its  mas- 
terly display  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty.  American  legislation  has  never 
achieved  anything  more  admirable,  as  an  internal  gov- 
ernment, than  this  comprehensive  scheme.  Its  pro- 
visions concerning  the  distribution  of  property,  the 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  it  laid 
at  the  foundation  of  the  communities  established  under 
its  sway,  and  the  efficient  and  civil  organization  by 
which  it  created  the  first  machinery  of  civil  society  are 
worthy  of  all  the  praise  that  has  ever  attended  it."  - 

Chief- Justice  Chase  said :  ' '  Never,  probably,  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  did  a  measure  of  legislation  so 
accurately  fulfill,  and  yet  so  mightily  exceed,  the  an- 
ticipations of  the  legislators." ' 

"  It  approaches  as  nearly  to  absolute  perfection  as 
anything  to  be  found  in  the  legislation  of  mankind;  for 
after  the  experience  of  fifty  years  it  would  perhaps 
be  impossible  to  alter  without  marring  it."  * 

The  draft  of  this  great  charter  was  made  by  Nathan 
Dane  of  Massachusetts,  but  to  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler 
is  due  the  distinct  incorporation  of  the  principle  of  the 
support  of  education  and  the  establishment  of  a  uni- 

'  First  and  Second  Speech  in  reply  to  Foote's  Resolutions. 
«  Works,  III.,  363,  433  ;  Hist,  of  the  Const.,  i.,  307. 
» Introduction  to  the  Statutes  of  Ohio. 
*  Judge  Timothy  Walker,  Address  at  Marietta. 


8        CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


versity,  and  probably  the  provision  against  slavery. 
It  is  even  possible  that  his  was  the  master  mind  which 
suggested  the  form  of  the  whole,  based  as  it  is  largely 
upon  the  constitution  and  judicial  system  of  Massa- 
chusetts of  1780,  and  containing  in  addition  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  inviolability  of  contracts,  which  six  weeks 
later  was  incorporated  in  the  draft  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  Certainly  we  know  that  the 
passage  of  this  famous  ordinance,  as  well  as  the  sale 
of  five  and  a  half  million  acres  of  land  by  Congress, 
was  due  to  his  able  advocacy  and  conquering  person- 
ality. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Congress  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  was  to  affirm  solemnly  the  binding 
force  of  this  ordinance,  and  to  adapt  its  provisions  to 
those  of  the  new  Constitution.  Following  the  prece- 
dent here  set,  the  states  which  constituted  a  part  of 
the  Northwest  Territory,  which  were  admitted  later, 
made  provision  for  the  support  of  popular  education 
and  the  endowment  of  colleges  by  appropriations  of 
land  or  a  certain  percentage  of  the  income  from  the 
sales  of  public  lands.  Three  to  five  per  cent,  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  within  their  bor- 
ders had  also  been  granted  to  the  states  by  the  national 
government  before  the  national  grant  of  1862,  which 
had  in  many  cases  been  devoted  to  education.  Since 
the  year  1800,  every  state  admitted  to  the  Union,  save 
Maine  and  West  Virginia,  which  were  taken  from  older 
states,  and  Texas,  which  was  acquired  from  Mexico, 
have  received  two  or  more  townships  of  land  for  the 
purpose  of  founding  a  university.  The  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  saline  and  swamp  lands,  and  grants  of 
public  lands  to  the  states  for  internal  improvements, 
have  in  some  cases  been  devoted  to  education.  Three 
million  five  hundred  thousand  acres  have  thus  been  set 
apart  for  higher  education.     Special  grants  have  been 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY        9 

made  to  a  few  states,  as  one  to  Tennessee  in  1806,  and 
minor  appropriations  for  specific  purposes,  to  asylums, 
academies,  and  missionary  societies. 

The  vast  agricultural  interests  of  the  West  began 
a  little  later  to  demand  the  recognition  of  agricultural 
and  industrial  education  by  the  national  government. 
The  state  of  Michigan  asked  Congress  in  1850  for  a 
grant  of  350,000  acres  of  land  for  the  support  of  agri- 
cultural schools.  The  question  of  a  national  grant  in  aid 
of  scientific  and  practical  agriculture  had  been  forced 
upon  Congress  by  numerous  petitions,  which  had  been 
presented  both  by  scientific  bodies  and  even  by  state 
legislatures.  In  the  year  1854  the  legislature  of  Illi- 
nois presented  a  memorial  to  Congress  requesting  such 
a  grant  of  the  public  lands,  and  at  the  session  of  Con- 
gress of  1857  a  similar  memorial  was  presented  from 
the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  of  the  state  of  New 
York  asking  a  grant  of  land  in  aid  of  the  agricultural 
colleges  of  the  several  states.  From  this  time  forward 
memorials  poured  in  upon  Congress  in  constant  suc- 
cession asking  for  appropriations  for  such  schools. 

The  plan  for  an  industrial  university  for  the  state 
of  Illinois  was  advocated  with  great  earnestness  and 
ability  by  Professor  J.  B.  Turner  of  Jacksonville,  first 
in  an  address  before  the  Teachers'  Association  at 
Pittsfield,  in  1850,  and  later  in  an  address  before  the 
Farmers'  Convention  held  at  Granville,  November  18, 
1851,  and  in  the  Millennium  of  Labor  (1853).  Mr. 
Cornell  was  in  active  correspondence  with  Mr.  Turner 
upon  the  form  and  scope  of  such  institutions. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    NATIONAL    LAND    GKANT     AND     LATER 
CONGRESSIONAL    ACTS 

THE  Hon.  Justin  S.  Morrill  of  Vermont  took 
his  seat  in  Congress  in  1855  as  a  member  of 
the  House  from  Vermont.  His  attention  was 
soon  called  to  the  numerous  appropriations 
of  public  lands  for  railroads  and  local  interests,  by 
which  our  vast  national  domain  was  being  gradually 
sacrificed  without  contributing  to  any  permanent  work 
of  general  benefit.  He  was  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
this  splendid  possession  might,  by  an  intelligent  and 
comprehensive  plan,  be  so  appropriated  as  to  make  it 
a  source  of  perpetual  blessing,  and  thus  place  resources 
in  the  hands  of  the  government  such  as  no  previous 
nation  had  enjoyed.  Mr.  Morrill  was  from  New  Eng- 
land, where  education  was  regarded  as  essential  to 
good  government  and  upright  citizenship ;  he  was  also 
from  a  state  whose  chief  interest  was  in  its  agricultural 
resources,  but  whose  wealth  was  gradually  diminishing 
with  the  development  of  more  fertile  regions.  He  thus 
describes  the  reasons  which  led  to  the  introduction  of 
the  bill,  and  his  part  in  its  passage : 

' '  First,  that  large  grants  of  land  were  made  for  edu- 
cational as  well  as  for  other  purposes,  and  that  the 
older  states  were  obtaining  little  special  benefit  from 
the  large  common  property  of  the  public  domain. 

"  Second,  that  the  average  product  of  wheat  crops 
per  acre  in  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  was  rapidly 
diminishing,  and  that  these  states  would  soon  be  de- 
pendent for  bread  upon  our  Northwestern  States,  while 

10 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      11 

in  England  the  soil,  maintaining  its  ancient  fertility 
under  more  scientific  culture,  its  wheat  crop  per  acre 
appeared  undiminished.  Some  institutions  of  a  high 
grade  for  instruction  in  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts,  I  know,  had  been  established  in  Europe,  and  that 
something  of  the  kind  here  was  greatly  to  be  desired. 

' '  Third,  that  the  liberal  education  offered  in  1858  at 
our  colleges  appeared  almost  exclusively  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  professional  classes — that  is  to  say,  for 
ministers,  lawyers,  and  doctors  only, — while  obviously 
the  greatest  number  of  our  people,  or  all  those  engaged 
in  productive  and  industrial  employments,  were  un- 
provided for,  though  hungering  for  some  appropriate 
higher  education. 

' '  Existing  colleges  then  had  more  faith  in  discipline 
than  in  usefulness,  and  surrendered  little  time  to  the 
teaching  of  the  practical  sciences.  It  struck  me,  how- 
ever, that  these  would  do  the  greatest  good  to  the 
greatest  number  and  open  a  larger  field  to  a  liberal 
education.  With  these  views,  my  first  bill  was  intro- 
duced and  passed  both  Houses  in  1858.  Instruction 
in  the  sciences,  agriculture,  and  the  mechanic  arts  was 
made  to  lead,  but  without  excluding  the  classics.  It 
was  to  be  the  instruction  of  a  college.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber of  any  assistance  in  framing  my  bill  prior  to  its 
introduction. 

' '  One  slight  amendment  only  was  made,  and  that  by 
the  Senate,  where  the  bill  was  earnestly  supported  by 
Senators  Wade,  Crittenden,  and  Pearce.  After  its 
introduction  Colonel  Wilder  of  Massachusetts,  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Agricultural  Society,  and  Mr. 
Brown,  president  of  the  People's  College,  New  York, 
and  others,  worked  to  encourage  members  to  vote  for 
the  bill.  My  own  speech  was  about  the  only  one  in 
favor,  while  there  was  some  outspoken  opposition  and 
a  report  by  Cobb    of  Alabama    against  it.     The  bill 


12      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

was  vetoed  by  Buchanan,  though  favoring  a  measure 
that  would  provide  for  a  professorship  of  agriculture 
for  a  college  in  each  state.  Mr.  Sickles,  a  personal 
friend  of  Buchanan,  then,  as  now,  a  member  of  the 
House,  having  heard  of  a  coming  veto,  left  the  House 
in  haste  to  see  and  persuade  the  President  to  approve 
the  bill.  Upon  his  return  he  told  me  that  he  was  too 
late,  and  that  Senator  Slidell  of  Louisiana  had  got  the 
ear  of  the  President.  Of  course  I  patiently  waited  for 
a  change  of  administration,  and  in  1862  again  pushed 
the  bill,  but  for  a  larger  endowment  of  lands.  Senators 
Harlan,  Pomeroy,  and  Wade  cared  for  the  bill  in  the 
Senate.  Most  of  the  state  legislatures  had  passed 
resolutions  in  its  favor.  There  never  was  a  doubt 
about  the  approval  of  Lincoln.  I  do  not  think  he  had 
any  relations  with  Buchanan,  who  soon  left  for  Penn- 
sylvania. 

''  The  value  of  the  land  granted  to  colleges  was 
largely  diminished  by  the  great  amount  of  bounty  land 
and  railroad  land  grants  competing  for  a  market  at  the 
same  time.  Only  one  college  had  a  Cornell  to  husband 
its  resources. 

*  *  For  the  proper  equipment  of  the  Land  Grant  Col- 
leges the  original  endowment  was  soon  found  to  be  too 
small,  and  for  many  years  various  bills  were  intro- 
duced by  me  to  obtain  a  supplementary  grant. 

*  *  Success  finally  crowned  these  efforts  in  1890,  Pro- 
fessor Atherton  of  Rutgers  College,  now  president  of 
Pennsylvania  Agricultural  College,  and  Major  Alvord 
of  Maryland  Agricultural  College,  rendered  valuable 
aid  in  all  of  these  supplementary  bills." 

Recognizing  the  education  of  the  people  as  the 
noblest  function  of  government,  Mr.  Morrill  drew  up 
independently  a  bill  ''  Donating  public  lands  to  the 
several  states  and  territories  which  might  provide  col- 
leges for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      13 

arts,"  which  he  introduced  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives December  14,  1857,  and  asked  that  it  be  re- 
ferred to  the  Committee  on  Agriculture,  of  which  he 
was  a  member.  An  opposition  was  immediately  devel- 
oped to  the  reference  proposed,  and  it  was  moved  that 
the  bill  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands, 
which  on  the  following  day  was  done. 

Mr.  Morrill,  in  beginning  his  speech  in  behalf  of  the 
bill,  stated  that  no  measure  for  years  had  received  so 
much  attention  in  various  parts  of  the  country  as  this, 
so  far  as  can  be  proved  by  petitions  which  have  been 
received  here  from  the  various  states,  north  and  south, 
from  county  societies,  and  from  individuals.  He  com- 
pared the  efforts  of  the  government  to  promote  com- 
merce, railroads,  literary  labor  through  the  copyright, 
and  to  benefit  mechanics  by  the  patent  system,  and 
education  through  munificent  grants,  with  the  little 
done  for  agriculture.  We  are  behind  European  coun- 
tries in  this  regard,  while  far  ahead  of  them  in  every 
other.  He  claimed  that  the  prosperity  of  a  nation  de- 
pended, first,  upon  the  division  of  the  land  into  small 
parcels;  and  secondly,  upon  the  education  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  soil.  Our  agriculturists  are,  as  a  whole, 
seeking  to  extend  their  boundaries  instead  of  promot- 
ing a  higher  cultivation  of  the  soil.  He  showed  by 
statistics  of  agricultural  products  that  crops  were  de- 
creasing in  the  East  and  South,  and  that  agriculture  as 
pursued  was  exhausting  the  soil.  ' '  Foreign  states  sup- 
port a  population  vastly  larger  per  square  mile  than 
our  own.  Here  we  rob  the  land,  and  then  the  owner 
sells  his  land  and  flies  to  fresh  fields  to  repeat  the 
spoliation.  The  wave  would  some  day  be  stayed  by 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  shall  we  not  prove  unworthy 
of  our  patrimony  if  we  run  over  the  whole  before  we 
learn  to  manage  a  part?  The  nation  that  tills  the  soil 
so  as  to  leave  it  worse  than  it  found  it  is  doomed  to 


14      COKNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

decay  and  degradation.    Agriculture  undoubtedly  de- 
mands our  first  care.     Our  public  lands  are  no  longer 
pledged    to    pay    the    national    debt.     "Who    will    be 
wronged  by  this  bill?    What  better  thing  shall  be  done 
with  our  national  domain?     Since  1850  grants  of  land 
amounting  to  25,403,993  acres  have  been  made  to  ten 
states  and  one  territory  to  aid  more  than  fifty  rail- 
roads.   As   prudent  proprietors   we   should   do   that 
which  would  not  only  tend  to  raise  the  value  of  the 
land,  but  make  agricultural  labor  more  profitable  and 
more  desirable.    Up  to  June  30,  1857,  we  had  donated 
ungrudgingly  to  different  states  and  territories  67,- 
736,572  acres  of  land  for  schools  and  universities.    If 
this  purpose  be  a  noble  one,  as  applied  to  a  territory 
sparsely  settled,  it  is  certainly  no  less  noble  in  states 
thickly  populated. ' '    He  defended  the  constitutionality 
of  the  bill  and  claimed  that  Congress  had  a  plain  and 
absolute  right  to  dispose  of  the  public  lands  at  its  dis- 
cretion.   *'  Some  statesmen  have  denounced  our  land 
system  as  a  prolific  source  of  corruption,  but  what  cor- 
ruption  can  flow   from   agricultural   colleges?     The 
persuasive  arguments  of  precedents,  the  example  of 
our  worthiest  rivals  in  Europe,  the  rejuvenation  of 
wornout  lands  which  bring  forth  taxes  only,  the  peti- 
tions of  farmers  everywhere  yearning  for  a  more  ex- 
cellent way,  philanthropy  supported  by  our  own  high- 
est interests,  all  these  considerations  impel  us  for  once 
to  do  something  for  agriculture  worthy  of  its  national 
importance. ' ' 

Mr.  Morrill  then  introduced  an  amended  bill.  A 
parliamentary  struggle  ensued,  in  which  it  was  sought 
to  lay  the  bill  on  the  table,  and  in  which  Mr.  Cobb  op- 
posed its  passage  upon  the  ground  of  unconstitution- 
ality. Mr.  Cobb  sought  also  to  show  that  the  effect  of 
the  bill  would  be  to  give  some  states  an  advantage  over 
others,  under  the  existing  ratio  of  representation.    He 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      15 

also  objected  to  the  exclusion  of  the  territories  from 
the  benefits  of  the  bill,  and  held  that  the  grants  to 
railroads  increased  the  value  of  the  public  lands; 
but  in  this  case  the  government  would  receive  no 
equivalent. 

On  April  15,  1858,  Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Cobb  of  Georgia 
reported  back  the  bill,  recommending  that  it  do  not 
pass.  A  minority  report,  signed  by  two  members  of 
the  committee,  Messrs.  D.  S.  Walbridge  of  Michigan 
and  Henry  Bennett  of  New  York,  was  also  presented. 
The  reasons  upon  which  the  majority  of  the  committee 
relied  for  the  rejection  of  the  bill  rested  mainly  upon 
the  limitation  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  government 
by  the  Constitution.  "  The  states  had  reserved  to 
themselves  all  authority  to  act  in  relation  to  their  do- 
mestic affairs,  and  these  principles  established  the  only 
solid  foundation  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  Federal 
Union.  Such  is  the  symmetry  of  our  government,  that 
its  very  existence  depends  upon  its  severe  adherence 
to  the  limitation  of  its  duties.  If  the  general  govern- 
ment possessed  the  power  to  make  grants  for  local  pur- 
poses, without  a  consideration  within  the  states,  its 
action  would  have  no  limitation  but  such  as  policy  or 
necessity  might  impose.  Every  local  object  for  which 
local  provision  is  now  made  would  press  for  support 
upon  the  general  government,  and  would  create  de- 
mands upon  it  beyond  its  power  to  meet,  and  of  neces- 
sity it  would  be  driven  into  the  policy  which  would 
increase  its  means.  As  its  expenditures  are  increased 
the  revenue  must  be  enlarged,  and  the  general  govern- 
ment, by  the  adoption  of  the  policy,  would  levy  taxes 
upon  the  people  of  the  Union  for  the  sake  of  the  local 
interests  of  the  states.  .  .  .  Patronage  would  be 
fatal  to  the  independence  of  the  states ;  with  patronage 
comes  the  power  to  control,  as  consequence  follows 
upon  cause.     If  the  principle  be  admitted,  what  shall 


16      COBNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

limit  its  application!  The  committee  have  failed  to 
perceive  how  they  could  be  justified  in  recommending 
a  grant  from  the  general  government  in  support  of 
agricultural  schools  and  in  refusing  one  for  any  other 
purpose  equally  meritorious.  The  means  of  the  gen- 
eral government  are  taken  from  the  people.  If  you 
take  it  from  the  public  lands,  you  give  it  money  in  the 
stead ;  if  you  destroy  its  revenue  from  that  source,  you 
must  increase  it  in  some  other.  The  appropriation 
asked  for  is  in  lands ;  but  your  committee  can  discover 
in  this  regard  no  difference  between  an  appropriation 
in  lands  or  one  in  money;  the  effect  is  precisely  the 
same  in  both  cases.  If  the  revenue  from  the  public 
lands  is  destroyed,  the  deficiency  must  be  met  by  taxes 
upon  the  people.  The  public  domain  belongs  to  all  the 
people  of  the  United  States ;  their  interest  in  it  is  com- 
mon, and  the  government  is  but  the  trustee  for  the 
common  benefit,  limited  in  its  actions  over  it  to  those 
powers  conferred  by  the  Constitution.  It  is  a  part  of 
the  public  funds,  and  can  be  devoted  to  no  purpose  for- 
bidden to  the  money  of  the  Federal  government.  .  .  . 
As  a  landholder,  the  government  may  legitimately  bear 
a  share  of  the  burdens  imposed  to  create  an  improve- 
ment which  shall  enhance  the  value  of  its  domain,  and 
may  contribute  to  that  end,  yet  its  aid  must  be  limited 
within  the  extent  which  does  not  require  taxation  to 
effect  it.  It  may,  as  a  matter  of  power  or  right,  con- 
tribute portions  of  the  public  lands  to  improve  the 
value  of  the  remainder,  but  even  in  this  sound  policy 
its  duties  toward  the  general  welfare  will  limit  it  to  a 
healthy  and  reasonable  extent.  The  donation  of  sec- 
tion sixteen  for  the  support  of  schools  was  an  induce- 
ment to  purchasers  and  enlianced  the  value  of  the  ad- 
jacent lands,  the  sale  of  which  indemnified  the  govern- 
ment for  the  donation  which  it  made.  So,  too,  the 
donation  of  the  salines.    .    .    .    The  grants  to  the  new 


JUSTIN  SMITH  MORRILL 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       17 


states  upon  their  admission  into  the  Union  were  upon 
conditions  which  more  than  indemnified  the  govern- 
ment. If  the  prayers  of  the  petitioners  were  granted, 
prodigious  quantities  of  land  would  be  thrown  upon 
the  market  by  competing  venders,  which  would  deprive 
it  of  marketable  value.  The  very  gratification  of  their 
wishes  would  destroy  the  object  which  they  have  in 
view.  To  make  the  grants  would  be  to  render  them 
of  but  little  avail.  Congress,  without  a  promise  of 
pecuniary  compensation,  has  no  power  to  grant  por- 
tions of  the  public  domain,  and,  if  it  had,  no  policy 
could  be  more  unwise  than  to  grant  it  for  the  support 
of  local  institutions  within  the  states," 

The  minority  report,  to  which  Mr.  Morrill  contrib- 
uted, cited  the  fact  that  schools  for  instruction  in  scien- 
tific and  practical  agriculture  had  been  established  by 
most  of  the  European  governments ;  that  in  many  coun- 
tries of  Europe  the  subject  of  agricultural  education 
is  incorporated  with  the  public  administration,  being 
often  committed  to  the  minister  of  public  domains. 
Agricultural  colleges  had  been  established  in  various 
states,  in  part  by  private  benevolence  and  in  part  by 
legislative  act;  also  that  agricultural  professorships 
had  been  created  in  many  colleges  and  universities. 
Of  5,371,876  free  male  inhabitants  of  the  United  States 
in  1850,  nearly  one-half,  or  2,389,013,  were  returned 
as  farmers  and  planters,  while  in  the  professions  of 
law,  medicine,  and  divinity  there  were  but  94,515  men 
employed.  To  educate  these  men  for  the  learned  pro- 
fessions there  were  234  colleges,  endowed  with  many 
millions  of  dollars,  and  two  million  dollars  are  actually 
expended  every  year  in  the  education  of  27,000  stu- 
dents. The  main  wealth  of  the  country  is  in  its  agri- 
cultural products,  which  far  exceed  in  value  its  foreign 
commerce.  If  a  grant  of  land  to  aid  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  railroad  may  be  made  for  the  benefit  of  all 


18      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  states,  by  which  the  value  and  sale  of  the  public 
lands  is  promoted,  there  is  equal  warrant  for  giving 
millions  of  acres  to  soldiers  who  have  fought  our 
battles. 

The  measure  under  consideration  is  in  no  sense  a 
donation  to  the  states;  it  will  relieve  them  from  no 
taxation,  but  will  impose  new  duties  and  further  bur- 
dens. It  merely  makes  the  states  trustees  for  certain 
purposes  which  they  may  constitutionally  and  effi- 
ciently discharge.  The  United  States  will  not  part 
with  its  title  to  any  lands  save  upon  certain  conditions, 
which  are  to  be  of  perpetual  and  binding  force.  As 
the  United  States  originally  acquired  their  title  to 
much  of  the  public  domain  upon  the  stipulation  that  it 
was  to  be  disposed  of  only  for  the  common  benefit  of 
all  the  states,  so  it  is  believed  that  no  grant  has  ever 
been  made  which  will  prove  to  be  a  more  strict  com- 
pliance with  the  terms  than  this  now  proposed,  reach- 
ing, as  it  will  reach,  not  only  all  the  states,  but  a  major 
part  of  the  people  of  all  the  states,  reaching  them,  too, 
in  their  persons  and  material  interests  and  reaching 
them  also  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the  people. 
That  our  country  needs  all  the  aid  likely  to  flow  from 
a  measure  of  such  far-reaching  consequences,  the 
united  testimony  of  all  our  agriculturists  in  all  sec- 
tions of  our  country  loudly  proclaims,  and  that  it  will 
prove  wise  and  practical,  the  experience  in  our  own 
and  other  lands  happily  already  demonstrates.  As 
each  state  would  possess  the  sole  control  and  manage- 
ment of  its  proportionate  fund,  national  power  could 
not  be  held  to  interfere  in  local  government.  The  con- 
stitutionality of  such  a  law  was  maintained,  and  it  was 
held  that  there  was  no  limit  to  the  uses  and  purposes 
to  which  the  public  domain  may  be  applied,  but  by  the 
discretion  of  Congress ;  if  the  proposed  grant  is  for  the 
benefit  of  all  the  states.  Congress  has  full  power  to 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       19 

make  it,  and  the  law-making  power  alone  can  judge  of 
that  fact. 

The  bill  passed  the  House  on  the  22d  of  April,  1858, 
by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  five  to  one  hundred. 
Upon  analyzing  this  vote,  we  find  that  the  members 
from  the  Southern  States,  with  few  exceptions,  voted 
against  the  measure,  while  its  main  support  came  from 
the  North.  Certain  members  from  the  Western  States 
also  opposed  it  on  the  ground  that  their  own  states 
would  suffer  in  growth  and  in  population,  and  that  the 
purposes  of  the  Homestead  Act  would  be  defeated. 

On  April  22,  1858,  the  bill  was  presented  in  the  Sen- 
ate, and  on  the  following  day  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Public  Lands.  On  May  6,  1858,  Mr.  Stuart  of 
Michigan  reported  that  the  committee,  after  very  care- 
fully considering  this  question,  had,  in  view  of  the  ex- 
isting circumstances,  reported  the  bill  back  to  the 
Senate  without  any  recommendations  for  or  against  its 
passage.  On  May  19  the  Senate  proceeded  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  measure,  which,  however,  was  stren- 
uously opposed,  Mr.  Pugh  of  Ohio  saying :  ' '  We 
might  as  well  make  a  test  vote  on  that  bill.  It  has 
never  been  favorably  recommended  by  any  committee 
of  either  House.  Probably  it  is  the  largest  proposi- 
tion for  the  donating  of  public  lands  that  has  ever  been 
made  here.  We  cannot  consider  it  at  this  time,  and 
I  think  instead  of  wasting  the  precious  hours  that 
remain  in  discussing  at  great  length  a  question  which, 
if  it  comes  up,  will  be  defeated,  we  may  as  well  take  a 
test  vote  on  the  question  of  taking  up  the  bill,  and  I 
call  for  the  yeas  and  nays."  The  bill  was  taken  from 
the  table  by  a  vote  of  twenty-eight  to  twenty-four ;  Sen- 
ator Yulee  of  Florida  sought  to  vary  the  motion  so  as 
to  lay  the  bill  on  the  table  and  thus  dispose  of  it  more 
effectively.  Various  motions  were  presented  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  special  order,  to  postpone  the  special  order, 


20      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  to  take  up  other  measures  in  place  of  the  Land 
Grant  Act  for  colleges.  Mr.  Stuart  said:  "  I  only 
desire  to  say  that  the  friends  of  this  measure  do  not 
intend  to  discuss  it.  It  is  a  measure  which  explains 
itself.  The  reading  of  the  bill  prepares  every  senator 
to  vote  upon  it.  ...  I  wish  to  protest  against  the 
authority  of  my  noble  friend  from  Alabama  [Mr.  Clay] 
as  well  as  his  historical  statement  [that  this  was  a  bill 
which  the  Democratic  party  of  this  country  had  been 
committed  against  for  thirty  years  past].  I  deny  his 
authority  to  make  party  questions,  and  I  deny  his  his- 
torical statement  that  this  is  a  party  question  or  has 
ever  been  made  so.  This  is  simply  a  proposition  to 
grant  less  than  six  million  acres,  whereas  it  is  but  a 
short  time, — in  1855, — since  we  passed  the  law  under 
which  there  have  been  granted  sixty  million  acres ;  that 
was  done  by  a  Democratic  majority  and  approved  by  a 
Democratic  president, ' '  Mr.  Mason  of  Virginia  said : 
*'  The  Senator  would  be  mistaken  if  he  expected  the 
bill  to  pass  without  debate.  It  may  be  the  policy  of 
the  senator  and  those  who  think  with  him  to  let  the 
bill  pass  as  smoothly  as  may  be,  but  as  far  as  I  under- 
stand it,  it  is  presenting  a  new  policy  to  the  country 
altogether,  being  a  direct  appropriation  from  the 
treasury  for  encouragement  of  schools  of  agriculture. 
...  I  am  not  aware  that  it  has  been  known  so  far 
to  the  legislatures  of  the  country  to  make  these  general 
appropriations  through  all  the  states.  I  shall  deem  it 
my  duty,  for  one,  to  expose  its  character,  as  I  look  at 
it,  fully  to  the  people  whom  I  represent,  and  I  presume 
that  the  disposition  of  other  senators  is  to  do  the  same 
thing."  The  Senate  refused  to  consider  the  bill 
further.  On  the  first  day  of  the  second  session  of  the 
Thirty-fifth  Congress,  December  6,  1858,  Mr.  Stuart, 
who  had  charge  of  the  bill  in  the  Senate,  gave  notice 
that  as  soon  as  the  Senate  was  full,  he  should  ask  for 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      21 

the  consideration  of  the  bill.  On  December  15  Mr. 
Stuart  called  up  the  bill.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
postpone  its  consideration  on  account  of  the  sickness 
or  absence  of  members  who  were  opposed  to  it.  Upon 
the  question  of  considering  the  bill  the  Senate  was 
equally  divided,  the  vice-president,  Mr.  Breckenridge, 
voted  no,  and  the  consideration  was  postponed.  On 
December  16  the  bill  was  again  called  up  and  made  a 
special  order  for  the  following  week.  Upon  the  day 
designated,  the  consideration  of  the  measure  was  again 
postponed.  On  February  1  Senator  Wade  of  Ohio 
moved  to  postpone  all  prior  orders  and  to  take  up  this 
bill,  speaking  with  great  energy  in  its  favor.  Among 
other  things,  he  said:  ''  This  bill  passed  the  House 
toward  the  close  of  last  session.  It  came  here  so  late 
that  those  who  were  opposed  to  it  found  it  would  be 
easy  to  talk  it  to  death,  and  it  will  share  the  same  fate 
now  unless  its  friends  support  the  motion  to  take  it 
up  in  preference  to  other  bills.  Many  senators  here 
are  instructed  by  their  states  to  use  their  influence  to 
procure  the  passage  of  the  bill;  I  am  one  among  that 
number. ' '  He  also  argued  that  it  was  time  that  some- 
thing of  this  nature  should  be  done  by  Congress  for 
the  benefit  of  agriculture. 

The  bill,  as  originally  presented,  provided  that 
twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  should  be  granted  to 
each  state,  for  each  senator  and  representative  in  Con- 
gress to  which  the  states  were  then  respectively  en- 
titled, making  a  total  grant  of  5,929,000  acres.  It  was 
sought  to  amend  the  bill  by  making  the  grant  to  the 
several  states  and  territories  in  the  compound  ratio 
of  the  geographical  area  and  the  representation  of  said 
states  and  territories  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, after  the  apportionment  under  the  census 
of  1860,  provided  that  said  appropriation  be  made 
after  first  allotting  to  each  state  and  territory  fifty 


22      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

thousand  acres.  Mr.  Harlan  of  Iowa  said:  "  The 
census  of  1850  shows  that  at  that  time  there  were  over 
three  millions  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits.  Where  is  their  repre- 
sentation on  this  floor?  Non  est.  They  are  not  here, 
only  as  they  are  represented  by  professional  men." 
Various  amendments  were  offered,  some  designed  to 
make  the  quantity  of  land  granted  by  the  bill  propor- 
tionate to  the  area  of  tillable  lands  in  the  state.  An 
effort  was  also  made  to  introduce  a  provision  in  the 
act  as  finally  passed,  that  in  no  case  shall  any  state 
to  which  land  scrip  may  thus  be  issued  be  allowed  to 
locate  the  same  within  the  limits  of  any  other  state; 
but  their  assignees  may  thus  locate  said  land  scrip 
upon  any  of  the  appropriated  lands  of  the  United 
States,  subject  to  public  entry. 

Senator  Jefferson  Davis,  later  President  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  reviewed  the  history  of  the  acquisition 
of  the  public  lands  by  the  general  government,  and 
opposed  the  measure  on  the  ground  that  the  power  to 
' '  dispose  ' '  of  the  lands  did  not  imply  that  they  could 
be  given  away.  Previous  grants  of  the  public  lands 
had  been  made  to  increase  the  value  of  the  property 
and  to  promote  the  revenue  of  the  United  States.  ' '  So 
far  as  grants  of  land  have  been  made  to  construct  rail- 
roads, merely  on  the  general  theory  that  railroads  were 
a  good  thing,  the  Federal  government  has  violated  its 
trust  and  exceeded  the  powers  conferred  upon  it.  .  .  . 
Where  a  grant  has  been  made  of  a  certain  portion  of 
land  to  increase  the  value  of  the  residue  and  bring  it 
into  cultivation,  ...  it  rests  on  a  principle  such  as 
a  prudent  proprietor  would  apply  to  the  conduct  of  his 
own  affairs.  Thus  far  it  is  defensible;  no  further. 
The  land  grants  to  the  new  states  for  education  rest 
on  the  same  general  principle.  The  new  states, 
sovereigns  like  the  old,  admitted  to  be  equal,  before 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      23 


taking  both  the  eminent  and  useful  domain,  entered 
into  a  contract  with  the  other  states,  that  they  would 
relieve  from  taxation  the  land  within  their  borders 
while  owned  by  the  general  government.  This  is  the 
consideration  for  which  land  grants  have  been  made 
to  the  new  states ;  and  a  high  price  they  have  paid  for 
all  that  has  been  granted  for  educational  purposes." 

Mr.  Davis's  views  are  not  confirmed  by  the  terms  of 
the  Ordinance  of  1787.  They  are  of  interest  now  as 
those  of  a  strict  constructionist  of  the  Constitution  of 
that  time,  and  in  virtue  of  certain  views  of  govern- 
mental and  state  rights  which  he  later  advocated. 

After  further  debate  the  vote  was  taken,  with  the 
result  that  twenty-five  yeas  and  twenty-two  nays  were 
cast,  being  a  majority  of  three  for  the  measure.  On 
the  16th  of  February  a  message  was  received  from  the 
House  that  it  had  concurred  in  the  Senate  amendments 
to  the  bill. 

In  the  decision  of  this  question,  certain  senators 
conscientiously  maintained  views  based  upon  tradi- 
tional interpretations  of  the  Constitution;  others,  who 
opposed  the  measure,  joined  with  the  former  through 
party  affiliations,  and  certain  senators  from  the  South 
acted  in  support  of  the  measure  contrary  to  the  con- 
victions of  their  constituents.  Senator  Morrill  gives 
the  following  additional  incident  in  the  history  of  the 
measure :  ' '  It  was  reported  that  President  Buchanan 
would  veto  the  measure  on  account  of  its  unconstitu- 
tionality. When  the  bill  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
President  Buchanan  for  some  days,  General  Sickles 
of  the  House  told  me  that  there  was  some  danger  of 
the  veto  of  the  bill,  and  requested  me  to  give  him  a 
copy  of  the  speech  wherein  I  had  shown  that  Bu- 
chanan, when  a  senator,  had  voted  for  an  appropria- 
■  tion  for  a  school  for  deaf  mutes  in  Kentucky.  He 
thought  that  this  vote  would  preclude  him  from  urging 


24      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


any  constitutional  objections  against  the  agricultural 
college  bill.  He  jumped  on  a  horse  and  rode  up  to  the 
President's,  but  soon  came  back,  telling  me  that  he  was 
too  late,  that  Senator  Slidell  of  Louisiana  had  got  the 
ear  of  the  President,  and  the  bill  would  be  vetoed." 
Among  those  who  supported  this  law  most  actively  in 
the  House  during  its  first  passage  were  Representa- 
tives Morrill,  Walbridge,  Cochrane,  and  others,  and  in 
the  Senate,  Senators  Wade,  Stuart,  and  Collamer. 

On  February  24,  1859,  President  Buchanan  sent  a 
special  message  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  veto- 
ing this  act.  After  stating  the  provisions  of  the  bill 
and  the  range  of  its  application,  he  proceeded  to  set 
forth  the  objections  to  the  measure,  which  he  deemed 
to  be  both  inexpedient  and  unconstitutional.  His 
first  objection  was  the  great  difficulty  of  raising  suffi- 
cient revenue  to  sustain  the  expenses  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Should  this  bill  become  a  law,  the  treas- 
ury would  be  deprived  of  the  whole  or  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  income  from  the  sale  of  public  lands, 
which  was  estimated  at  five  million  dollars  for  the 
next  fiscal  year.  The  minimum  price  of  government 
lands  was  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents,  but  the 
value  of  such  lands  had  been  reduced  to  eighty-five 
cents  by  the  issue  of  bounty  land-warrants  to  old  sol- 
diers. Of  the  lands  granted  by  these  warrants,  there 
were  outstanding  and  unlocated  nearly  twelve  million 
acres.  This  had  reduced  the  current  sales  of  the  gov- 
ernment lands  and  diminished  the  revenue  from  this 
source.  If,  in  addition,  thirty-three  states  should 
enter  the  market  with  their  land  scrip,  the  price  would 
be  reduced  far  below  even  eighty-five  cents  per  acre, 
and  as  much  to  the  prejudice  of  the  old  soldiers,  who 
had  not  already  parted  with  their  warrants,  as  to  that 
of  the  government.  With  this  issue  of  additional  land 
scrip,  there  would  be  a  glut  in  the  market,  so  that  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       25 


government  could  sell  few  lands  at  the  established 
value,  and  the  price  of  bounty  land-warrants  and  scrip 
would  be  reduced  to  one-half  the  sum  fixed  by  law  for 
government  sales.  [This  anticipation  was  afterwards 
realized  in  the  sale  of  the  land  scrip  issued  to  the 
various  colleges.]  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
government  would  lose  this  source  of  revenue,  as  the 
states  would  sell  their  land  scrip  at  any  price  that  it 
would  bring.  The  effect  upon  the  treasury  would  be 
the  same  as  if  a  tax  were  imposed  to  create  a  loan  to 
endow  these  state  colleges.  The  injurious  effect  that 
would  be  produced  on  the  relations  between  the  Fed- 
eral and  state  governments,  by  a  grant  of  Congress  to 
the  separate  states,  was  argued  by  a  reasoning  almost 
similar  to  that  presented  by  the  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  reporting 
originally  against  the  measure.  The  third  argument, 
that  the  bill,  if  it  should  become  a  law,  would  operate 
greatly  to  the  injury  of  the  new  states,  was  based  upon 
the  fear  that  wealthy  individuals  would  acquire  large 
tracts  of  the  public  lands  and  hold  them  for  speculative 
purposes.  The  low  price,  to  which  the  land  scrip 
would  probably  be  reduced,  would  tempt  speculators 
to  buy  it  in  large  amounts  and  locate  it  on  the  best 
lands  belonging  to  the  government.  The  consequence 
would  be  that  the  men  who  desired  to  cultivate  the  soil 
would  be  compelled  to  purchase  these  very  lands  at 
rates  much  higher  than  the  price  at  which  they  could 
be  obtained  from  the  government.  Fourthly,  he  doubts 
whether  this  bill  will  contribute  to  the  advancement  of 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  objects  whose  dig- 
nity and  value  can  not  be  too  highly  appreciated.  The 
Federal  government  will  have  no  constitutional  power 
to  follow  up  the  donation  to  the  states,  and  compel  the 
application  of  the  fund  to  the  intended  objects.  As 
donors,  we  shall  possess  no  control  over  our  own  gift 


26       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

after  it  shall  have  passed  from  our  hands.  If  the  state 
legislatures  fail  to  execute  faithfully  the  trust  in  the 
manner  prescribed  by  the  law,  the  Federal  government 
will  have  no  power  to  compel  the  execution  of  the  trust. 
Fifthly,  the  bill  will  injuriously  interfere  with  the 
existing  colleges  in  the  different  states,  in  many  of 
which  agriculture  is  taught  as  a  science,  and  the  effect 
of  the  creation  of  an  indefinite  number  of  rival  col- 
leges sustained  by  the  endowment  of  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment will  not  be  difficult  to  determine.  He  believed 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  sustain  the  colleges  pro- 
posed without  the  provision  that  scientific  and  classical 
studies  shall  not  be  excluded  from  them ;  for  no  father 
would  incur  the  expense  of  sending  his  son  to  one  of 
these  institutions  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  him  a 
scientific  farmer  or  mechanic.  [The  bill  itself  nega- 
tives this  idea,  and  declares  that  its  object  is  to  pro- 
mote the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  indus- 
trial classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of 
life.]  By  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  veto  message 
is  devoted  to  the  question  of  the  constitutional  power 
of  Congress  to  make  the  donation  of  public  lands  to 
the  different  states  of  the  Union,  to  provide  colleges 
for  the  purpose  of  educating  the  people  of  those  states. 
' '  The  general  proposition  is  undeniable  that  Congress 
does  not  possess  the  power  to  appropriate  money  in 
the  treasury  raised  by  taxes  on  the  people  of  the  United 
States  for  the  purpose  of  educating  the  people  of  the 
respective  states.  It  will  not  be  pretended  that  any 
such  power  is  to  be  found  among  the  specific  powers 
granted  to  Congress,  nor  that  '  it  is  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  '  any  one  of  these 
powers.  Should  Congress  exercise  such  a  power,  this 
would  be  to  break  down  the  barriers  which  have  been 
so  carefully  constructed  in  the  Constitution,  to  sepa- 
rate Federal  from  state  authority.     We  should  then 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       27 

not  only  '  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and 
excises  '  for  Federal  purposes,  but  for  every  state  pur- 
pose which  Congress  might  deem  expedient  or  useful. 
The  language  of  the  second  clause  of  the  third  section 
of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution,  which  declares 
that  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make 
all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  terri- 
tories or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  does  not  by  a  fair  interpretation  of  the  words 
*  dispose  of  '  in  this  clause  bestow  the  power  to  make 
a  gift  of  public  lands  to  the  states  for  purposes  of 
education.  Congress  is  a  trustee  under  the  Constitu- 
tion for  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and,  therefore, 
has  no  authority  to  dispose  of  the  funds  entrusted  to  its 
care,  as  gifts."  A  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
which  an  opinion  was  rendered  by  Chief-Justice  Taney, 
was  quoted,  who  says  in  reference  to  this  clause  of  the 
Constitution :  "  It  begins  its  enumeration  of  powers  by 
that  of  '  disposing,'  in  other  words,  making  sale  of  the 
lands  or  raising  money  from  them,  which,  as  we  have 
already  said,  was  the  main  object  of  the  cession  (from 
the  states)  and  which  is  the  first  thing  provided  for 
in  the  article."  In  the  case  of  states  and  territories, 
such  as  Louisiana  and  Florida,  which  were  paid  for 
out  of  the  public  treasury  from  the  money  raised  by 
taxation.  Congress  had  no  power  to  appropriate  the 
money  with  which  these  lands  were  purchased  to  other 
purposes,  and  it  was  equally  clear  that  its  power  over 
the  lands  was  equally  limited.  ' '  The  mere  conversion 
of  money  into  land  could  not  confer  upon  Congress 
any  power  over  the  disposition  of  land,  which  they  had 
not  possessed  over  money."  If  it  could,  then  a  trustee, 
by  changing  the  character  of  the  fund  entrusted  to  his 
care  for  special  objects,  from  money  into  land,  might 
give  the  land  away,  or  devote  it  to  any  purpose  he 
thought  proper,  however  foreign  to  the  trust.    Grants 


28       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

of  lands  by  the  national  government  to  new  states  for 
the  use  of  schools  as  well  as  for  a  state  university,  were 
defended  on  the  ground  that  the  United  States  is  a 
great  land  proprietor;  and  from  the  very  nature  of 
this  relation,  it  is  both  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Con- 
gress as  their  trustee,  to  manage  these  lands  as  any 
other  prudent  proprietor  would  manage  them,  for  his 
own  best  advantage.  Such  a  grant  became  an  induce- 
ment to  settlers  to  purchase  the  land,  with  the  assur- 
ance that  their  children  would  have  the  means  of  edu- 
cation. The  gift  of  lands  for  educational  purposes 
enhanced  their  value  and  is,  therefore,  justifiable. 

This  veto  of  the  land  act  establishing  national  colleges 
put  an  end  to  any  further  hopes  of  its  passage  during 
Mr.  Buchanan's  administration.  If  Congress  occupied 
the  relation  of  a  legal  trustee  to  these  lands,  it  was 
bound  by  the  legal  limitations  of  such  a  trustee,  instead 
of  possessing  the  power  to  interpret  intelligently 
under  the  Constitution  what  was  the  normal  exercise 
of  its  powers.  The  law-making  power  was,  by  this 
argument,  made  subject  to  a  power  created  by  it. 

Mr.  Morrill,  in  replying  to  the  President's  veto, 
claimed  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  a  lack  of  har- 
mony between  the  state  and  Federal  authorities  on 
account  of  any  provision  in  the  bill,  which  left  the  ar- 
rangement and  control  of  institutions  founded  under 
the  act  wholly  to  the  state.  On  the  question  of  pass- 
ing the  bill  over  the  veto,  there  were  105  yeas  and  96 
nays,  not  the  requisite  two-thirds  to  enable  the  act  to 
become  a  law. 

Mr.  Morrill  was  not,  however,  discouraged,  and  two 
years  later,  upon  the  accession  of  a  new  administra- 
tion, he  gave  notice,  on  December  8, 1861,  that  he  would 
introduce  a  bill  donating  public  lands  for  the  support 
of  colleges  in  the  various  states.  The  bill  was  for- 
mally introduced  on  December  16,  read  twice,  and  re- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       29 


ferred  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.    Here  it  was 
kept  until  December  20,  1862,  when  the  chairman  of 
the  committee  reported  back  the  bill  with  a  recom- 
mendation  that   it   should   not   pass.     This   adverse 
action  in  the  House  having  been  anticipated,  the  same 
measure  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  the  Hon. 
Benjamin  Wade  of  Ohio  on  May  2, 1862,  where  it  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  and  or- 
dered to  be  printed.     On  the  16th  of  May  Senator 
Harlan  reported  back  the  bill  as  amended  by  the  com- 
mittee with  a  favorable  recommendation.    On  the  19th 
of  May  the  bill  was  formally  considered  in  committee 
of  the  whole.    It  was  stated  to  be  essentially  the  same 
as  that  passed  by  both  Houses  of  Congress  two  years 
before,   save   that   the   appropriation  granted  30,000 
acres  of  land  to  each  state  for  each  representative  or 
senator  in  Congress  in  place  of  20,000  acres  of  land,  as 
provided  in  the  original  bill.     The  hostility  of  certain 
western  senators,  who  feared  that  their  states  would 
be  affected  disadvantageously  by  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  was  the  principal  occasion  for  opposition  at  this 
time.     It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  representatives 
from  the  South  were  not  at  this  time  members  of  the 
National    Congress    in    attendance.      Some    senators, 
fearing  that  the  passage  of  the  bill  would  exhaust  all 
the  valuable  lands  in  their  own  states,  desired  to  limit 
the  grant  to  government  lands  in  the  territories.    The 
popular  favor  with  which  this  measure  was  regarded 
throughout  the  North  had  constantly  increased  within 
the  two  years  since  Mr.  Buchanan's  veto.    Mr.  Wade 
stated  that ' '  a  great  many  states,  and  I  believe  most  of 
our  free  states,  have  passed  resolutions  in  their  legis- 
latures instructing  their  senators  to  go  for  the  bill." 
Senator  Harlan,  from  Iowa,  stated  that  he  represented 
a  state  that  would  be  adversely  affected  by  the  bill,  but 
that  he  should  vote  for  it  for  two  reasons:  first,  be- 


30       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cause  tlie  legislature  of  his  state  had  instructed  him  to 
do  so;  and  secondly,  because  ''  I  do  not  believe  the 
state  will  be  seriously  damaged  should  the  bill  become 
a  law,  and  justice  to  the  old  states  seems  to  require  it. ' ' 
The  Committee  on  Public  Lands  concluded,  in  view  of 
all  the  facts,  which  exhibited  a  policy  of  large  liberality 
towards  the  new  states,  that  it  would  not  be  unreason- 
able for  the  old  states  to  insist  on  such  a  disposition 
of  a  small  part  of  the  public  land  as  would  result  in 
benefit  to  them,  especially  as  they  had  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote  agreed  to  the  passage  of  the  Home- 
stead Bill.  "  .  .  .  .  This  bill  proposes  to  grant  to 
the  states  less  than  ten  million  acres.  We  now  have  of 
surveyed  and  unsold  lands  over  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  million  acres.  At  the  same  time  there  is  a 
total  of  unsold  and  unappropriated  lands  of  1,046,280,- 
093  acres.  It  is,  therefore,  a  trivial  gift  of  this  vast 
national  estate  to  bestow  upon  education."  Mr. 
Wright  of  Indiana  remarked :  ' '  If  this  fund  is  to  be 
raised  in  this  way  I  would  much  rather  devote  it  to  the 
females  of  the  land.  Do  not  be  startled,  gentlemen;  it 
is  so.  Look  at  your  half-million  of  men  in  the  army 
with  neglected  daughters  and  sisters  to  be  raised  and 
educated. ' ' 

Another  argument  by  Senator  Harlan,  the  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  is  worthy  of  notice. 
'*  This  body  is  a  body  of  lawyers.  Heretofore  ap- 
propriations of  lands  have  been  made  for  such  uni- 
versities. The  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  these  lands 
have  usually  gone  to  educate  the  children  of  profes- 
sional men.  Here,  for  the  first  time  I  believe  in  the 
history  of  the  Senate,  a  proposition  is  made  to  make 
an  appropriation  of  lands  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  agriculturalists  of  the  nation,  and  it 
meets  very  strenuous  opposition  from  a  body  of  law- 
yers.   If  this  Senate  were  composed  of  agriculturists 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      31 


chiefly,  they  would  have  provided  first  for  an  agricul- 
tural college,  and  probably  afterwards  for  a  college  in 
which  the  sons  of  lawyers,  physicians,  and  other  pro- 
fessional men  could  be  educated.  I  do  not  believe  that 
if  the  proposition  were  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
people  of  the  country  you  could  array  one-fifteenth  of 
the  voters  against  it." 

Various  amendments  were  submitted,  which  did  not 
change  the  essential  features  of  the  bill,  limiting  in  one 
case  the  amount  of  land  that  might  be  appropriated  in 
any  single  state  to  one  million  dollars.  A  provision 
that  the  act  should  not  take  effect  until  July  1,  1864, 
was  lost.  It  was  provided  that  whenever  there  are 
public  lands  in  a  state,  the  quantity  to  which  said  state 
shall  be  entitled,  shall  be  selected  from  such  lands.  An 
amendment  granting  a  sum  of  money  from  the  pro- 
ceeds hereafter  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  public 
lands,  equal  to  $30,000  for  each  senator  and  repre- 
sentative in  Congress,  to  which  the  states  are  respec- 
tively entitled,  was  lost. 

The  passage  of  this  amendment  would  have  left  the 
value  of  the  public  lands  undisturbed,  but  would  have 
limited  the  large  returns  from  the  careful  administra- 
tion of  the  fund  and  the  sale  of  the  scrip,  and  made 
impossible  the  large  sum  which  Cornell  University 
and  the  University  of  California  have  realized.  The 
bill  finally  passed  on  June  11,  with  a  vote  of  thirty-two 
in  its  favor  to  seven  against,  and  was  then  sent  to  the 
House  for  concurrence.  On  July  17,  after  various 
dilatory  motions  to  again  refer  the  bill  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Lands  had  been  voted  down,  the  bill 
passed  by  a  vote  of  ninety  to  twenty-five,  was  signed 
by  the  Speaker  on  July  1,  and  received  the  signature 
of  the  President  on  the  same  day.  Both  Abraham  Lin- 
coln and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  had  promised  before 
the  election,  at  the  request  of  J.  B.  Turner,  to  sign,  in 


32       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

case  of  election  to  the  presidency,  the  bill  which  Presi- 
dent Buchanan  had  vetoed. 

During  most  of  the  time  in  which  this  bill  was  under 
debate,  Dr.  Amos  Brown  was  in  Washington  and  active 
in  influencing  members  of  Congress  in  its  favor.    Some 
of  the  amendments  to  its  provisions  in  the  Senate  were 
introduced  at  his  personal  suggestion.    The  Rev.  Amos 
Brown,  LL.  D.,  was  born  in  Kensington,  N.  H.,  on 
March   4,   1804.     His   early   boyhood   was   spent   on 
a  farm,  and  his  earliest  educational  privileges  were 
limited   to   the   advantages   afforded  by   the   district 
schools  of  New  England.     He  prepared  for  college 
in  the  academy  at  Hampton,  N.  H.,  where  his  orig- 
inal purpose  to  study  medicine  was  changed,  and  he 
entered  Dartmouth  College  in  1829  with  the  purpose 
of  becoming  a  student  of  theology.     His  faithful  friend 
and  college  chum  was  Clark,  later  United  States  Sen- 
ator from  New  Hampshire  and  a  warm  supporter  of 
the  National  Land  Grant  Act.     During  his  academic 
and  collegiate  course  he  supported  himself  by  teaching. 
After  graduating  from  college,  in  1834,  he  entered  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary.    His  course  in  the  theo- 
logical seminary  was  interrupted  by  an  absence   of 
one  year,  in  which  he  acted  as  the  principal  of  the 
academy  in  Fryeburg,  Me.    After  leaving  Andover, 
he  became  principal   of  the   Gorham  Academy   and 
Teachers'  Seminary,  where  he  remained  for  twelve 
years.    Mr.  Brown  was  an  educator  of  great  ability 
and  power.    He  gathered  the  ablest  teachers  about 
him,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  advocates  of  co-educa- 
tion.   His  ability  as  an  organizer  was  of  a  high  order, 
and  both  as  a  disciplinarian  and  a  teacher  he  exerted 
a  powerful  influence  upon  those  whom  he  trained.    His 
personal  instruction  was  mainly  in  mental  science,  with 
which  he  discussed  theories   of  instruction  and  the 
principles  of  intellectual  growth.     The  reputation  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      33 


his  school  was  so  great  that  it  attracted  pupils  from 
other  states,  and  the  Hon.  Horace  Mann,  who  visited 
the  Gorham  Academy  in  order  to  study  the  theories 
and  methods  which  were  employed  there,  often  spoke 
of  Dr.  Brown  as  one  of  the  ablest  teachers  of  New 
England,  saying  that  he  would  make  the  best  college 
president  of  all  whom  he  knew.  Later  he  resigned  his 
position  in  order  to  enter  the  ministry,  for  which  he 
had  prepared,  and  became  pastor  of  a  Congregational 
Church  in  Machias,  Me.;  but  so  strong  was  his  pas- 
sion for  his  favorite  pursuit  of  teaching,  that  after 
three  years'  service  in  Machias  he  assumed  charge 
of  the  academy  in  Ovid,  N.  Y.  Here  his  former 
success  was  repeated.  The  Seneca  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute became  one  of  the  most  prominent  schools  of  this 
state,  and  some  of  the*  most  eminent  scholars  of  the 
country  felt  the  influence  of  Dr.  Brown's  inspiring  per- 
sonality, among  them  President  W.  W.  Folwell  of  the 
University  of  Minnesota,  Professor  J.  L.  Morris  of 
Cornell  University,  Professor  T.  L.  Lounsbury  of 
Yale,  one  of  our  ablest  scholars  in  English  literature 
and  known  especially  for  his  brilliant  studies  in 
Chaucer,  also  Professor  Charles  A.  Joy  of  Columbia 
College,  and  Professor  Willard  Rising  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  California.  The  Regents  pronounced  this  in- 
stitution the  best  organized  academy  in  the  state.  Mr. 
Brown  instituted  public  lectures  in  order  to  awaken 
an  interest  in  scientific  farming  in  the  agricultural 
community  around,  and  in  this  manner  his  attention 
was  first  called  to  the  need  of  a  state  agricultural 
college. 

Dr.  Brown  had  been  influential  in  securing  a  charter 
for  the  State  Agricultural  College  and  in  locating  the 
same  in  Ovid.  He  also  originated  the  plan  of  asking 
from  the  state  the  loan  of  $40,000,  without  interest, 
from  the  United  States  Deposit  Fund.     His  remark- 


34      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

able  ability  in  influencing  men  is  shown  by  bis  success 
in  inducing  the  legislators  to  grant  this  gift  to  the 
Agricultural  College.  Dr.  Brown  was  one  of  its 
trustees,  but  he  was  not,  as  was  anticipated,  made  its 
president.  About  this  time  the  trustees  of  the  People's 
College  in  Havana  sought  to  perfect  its  organization, 
and  on  August  12,  1857,  Mr.  Brown  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  that  institution.  It  is  noticeable  that,  while 
he  shared  the  plans  and  purposes  of  the  new  college, 
he  desired  to  give  a  broader  scope  to  its  curriculum; 
and  in  his  inaugural  he  stated  that  its  object  would 
be  to  promote  literature,  science,  arts,  and  agriculture. 
Agriculture,  and  various  branches  of  manufactures 
and  the  mechanic  arts,  were  to  be  systematically 
studied  within  the  college  as  a  part  of  its  regular 
course.  He  was  more  and  more  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  practical  and  scientific  education;  and, 
with  the  conviction  that  such  education  must  be  sup- 
ported by  the  national  government,  an  appropriation 
of  public  lands  naturally  suggested  itself  to  his  mind 
as  a  practical  and  constitutional  method  of  bestowing 
such  aid. 

Professor  Brewer  of  Yale  University  relates  that 
he  was  seated  one  evening  (December  14,  1857)  in 
company  with  Professor  J.  W.  Chickering  and  Dr. 
Brown,  when  the  latter,  glancing  at  the  New  York 
Tribune,  exclaimed  suddenly:  ''  Mr.  Morrill  of  Ver- 
mont has  introduced  a  bill  into  Congress  for  just  such 
national  aid  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  as 
I  have  always  advocated.  I  must  go  to  Washington 
immediately  and  see  what  I  can  do  to  aid  the  bill. ' '  He 
went  on  the  following  day  and  became  the  most  power- 
ful and  influential  supporter  of  the  measure.  The 
debt  which  the  country  owes  to  him  for  promoting  the 
noblest  grant  for  popular  education  which  the  world 
has  known  may  be  estimated  by  the  deliberate  judg- 


CORNELL  UNWERSITY:  A  HISTORY      35 

ment  of  the  value  of  his  services  expressed  by  those 
who  were  most  intimately  identified  with  the  passage 
of  this  measure  in  Congress.  Senator  William  Pitt 
Fessenden  of  Maine  wrote :  ' '  Mr.  Brown,  as  I  be- 
lieve, was  not  only  father  of  the  bill,  but  to  his  per- 
sistent, efficient,  and  untiring  efforts  its  success  was 
mainly  due.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  but 
for  him  it  would  have  failed,  in  my  judgment,  alto- 
gether." Senator  Morgan  of  New  York  stated: 
''  The  first  man  who  suggested  to  me  the  passage  of 
the  bill  was  yourself ;  and  from  my  own  knowledge  the 
first  bill  passed,  which  was  vetoed  by  Mr.  Buchanan, 
would  not  have  had  the  remotest  chance  in  either  house 
of  Congress  without  your  interest,  labor,  and  most  effi- 
cient efforts."  Senator  Harris  of  New  York  also 
said:  ^'  The  agricultural  interests  of  the  country  are 
indebted  to  him  more  than  to  anyone,  indeed,  every- 
one else,  for  the  passage  of  the  law  devoting  public 
lands  to  agricultural  colleges."  Senator  Clark  of 
New  Hampshire  wrote :  '  ^  It  might  have  passed  with- 
out you,  and  I  cannot  say  that  it  would  not;  but  sure 
I  am,  no  one  was  so  active  or  efficient  as  you  in  re- 
moving obstacles  to  it  or  securing  it  friends." 

Senator  Wade  of  Ohio,  who  took  charge  of  the 
passage  of  this  law  in  the  United  States  Senate,  in 
speaking  of  the  influence  of  the  People 's  College  in  the 
passage  of  that  law,  wrote,  in  a  letter  to  Senator  E.  B. 
Morgan :  '  *  Having  taken  a  deep  interest  in  that  meas- 
ure, I  ought  to  be  qualified  to  speak  with  confidence  on 
the  subject,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  exertions  of  that  institution,  I  do  not 
believe  the  measure  could  have  received  the  sanction 
of  Congress.  Great  credit  is  due  to  the  exertions  of 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Morrill  of  the  House  for  his  unwearied 
labors  in  its  behalf;  yet  I  always  believed,  and  still 
believe,  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  able,  energetic. 


36      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  unwearied  exertions  of  the  Rev.  Amos  Brown, 
president  of  the  People's  College,  it  would  never  have 
become  a  law.  It  encountered  great  opposition  in 
some  quarters  on  account  of  its  supposed  antagonism 
to  the  Homestead  Bill,  and  much  also  from  the  mere 
indifference  of  members  who  did  not  take  interest 
enough  in  the  measure  to  give  it  a  thorough  investi- 
gation— more  still  from  several  members  from  the 
land  states,  who  feared  its  passage  would  conflict  with 
the  rapid  settlement  of  their  states.  All  these  diffi- 
culties, however,  were  overcome  by  the  intelligent  and 
persevering  labors  of  Mr.  Brown,  whom  I  consider 
really  the  father  of  the  measure  and  whose  advice  I 
believe  entitled  to  more  weight  in  carrying  the  law 
into  execution  than  that  of  almost  any  other  man." 

Professor  Brewer,  who  has  been  associated  with 
scientific  instruction  in  agriculture  for  more  than  a 
half-century,  thus  writes  of  Dr.  Brown:  "  I  was  his 
guest,  and  on  the  evening  of  February  22d  I  talked 
with  him  far  into  the  night.  His  views  were  so  broad, 
he  was  so  enthusiastic  and  hopeful,  that  I  thought  him 
not  merely  optimistic  but  positively  visionary.  He 
was  aiming  for  so  great  and  broad  an  institution  that 
I  thought  it  visionary  to  even  hope  for  its  realization. 
I  argued  with  him  that  he  could  not  expect  to  build  up 
a  Heidelberg  in  chemistry,  a  Berlin  in  philosophy,  a 
Harvard  in  natural  history,  a  Yale  in  agricultural 
chemistry,  and  something  equally  brilliant  in  technol- 
ogy^, in  the  little  village  of  Havana,  and  with  only 
$400,000  actually  in  sight.  He  thought  otherwise. 
'  Why  not?  Why  not?  '  he  repeated  over  and  over 
again.  The  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  to  be 
merely  a  beginning;  he  felt  that  the  demands  of  the 
times  called  for  such  an  institution.  He  described  at 
length  the  high  ideal  that  should  guide  in  planning 
such  a  college,  repeating  over  and  over  the  sentiment 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      37 

we  see  expressed  on  the  seal  of  Cornell  University  and, 
I  think,  in  the  very  language  (at  least  it  so  struck  me 
when  I  first  saw  the  seal),  that  he  was  striving  to  build 
a  college  where  any  person  could  get  instruction  in  any 
subject."  He  was  undoubtedly  visionary,  as  great 
dreamers  are  likely  to  be,  but  neither  has  the  country, 
nor  have  the  colleges  which  came  into  being  through 
Mr.  Brown's  efforts,  recognized  as  yet,  fittingly,  the 
debt  which  they  owe  to  him.  Some  features  of  the  law 
as  passed  were  directly  due  to  him.  He  was  active  also 
in  securing  the  land  grant  for  Cornell  University  from 
the  legislature  of  New  York. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PRECURSORS  OF  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY  :  1.  THE 
people's  COLLEGE.  2.  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  AGRI- 
CULTURAL   COLLEGE 

IT  had  been  proposed  as  early  as  in  1822  to  found 
a  college  in  Ithaca,  and  in  March  of  that  year  a 
request  was  presented  to  the  Regents  by  the 
Genesee  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church  for 
a  charter.  It  was  stated  that  six  thousand  dollars  had 
already  been  raised  for  the  support  of  such  a  college, 
with  which  it  was  the  intention  to  proceed  to  the  erec- 
tion of  buildings  in  the  following  spring.  At  the  same 
time  the  trustees  of  the  Geneva  Academy  applied  for 
a  charter  for  a  college,  on  the  basis  of  certain  funds 
already  subscribed  and  land  and  buildings  already 
erected,  and  an  annual  grant  promised  by  the  corpora- 
tion of  Trinity  Church  in  New  York.  As  both  these 
colleges  were  to  be  erected  by  religious  denominations, 
the  Board  of  Regents  considered  what  its  policy  should 
be  toward  applications  of  this  kind  from  various  reli- 
gious organizations.  The  board  had  adopted,  as  early 
as  March  11,  1811,  the  view  that  no  academy  ought  to 
be  erected  into  a  college  until  the  state  of  literature 
therein  was  so  far  advanced  and  its  funds  so  far  en- 
larged as  to  render  it  probable  that  it  would  attain 
the  ends  and  support  the  character  of  a  college  in 
which  all  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences  would  be  cher- 
ished and  taught.  '^  The  literary  character  of  the 
state  is  deeply  interested  in  maintaining  the  reputa- 
tion of  its  seminaries  of  learning,  and  to  multiply  col- 
leges without  adequate  means  to  enable  them  to  vie 

38 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      39 


with  other  similar  institutions  in  the  United  States 
would  be  to  degrade  their  character  and  to  be  giving 
only  another  name  to  an  ordinary  academy.  The  es- 
tablishment of  a  college  is  also  imposing  upon  the  gov- 
ernment the  necessity  of  bestowing  upon  it  a  very 
liberal  and  expensive  patronage,  without  which  it 
would  languish  and  not  maintain  a  due  reputation  for 
usefulness  and  universal  learning;  colleges,  therefore, 
are  to  be  cautiously  erected,  and  only  when  called  for 
by  strong  public  expediency. ' ' 

The  case  was  now  different,  for  an  additional  ques- 
tion was  involved.  The  board,  however,  after  mature 
consideration,  held  that  it  had  no  right  to  inquire  into 
the  religious  opinions  of  the  applicants  for  a  charter, 
and  that  it  might  wisely  make  use  of  denominational 
zeal  to  promote  the  great  educational  interests  con- 
fided to  its  charge.  It  was  directed,  April  10,  1822, 
that  the  charter  of  a  college  in  Ithaca  be  granted  when- 
ever it  should  be  shown  within  three  years  that  a  per- 
manent fund  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  had  been  col- 
lected for  its  support.  It  was,  however,  found  impos- 
sible to  raise  this  sum.  This  impulse,  though  fruitless 
in  itself,  may  have  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  Ithaca 
Academy,  which  was  incorporated  in  the  following 
year,  March  24,  1823. 

Two  colleges  preceded  the  foundation  of  Cornell 
University,  which  exercised  an  immediate  influence 
upon  its  history  and  determined  in  part  the  form  which 
it  assumed.  The  one  most  nearly  related  to  it  was 
the  People's  College,  situated  in  Havana,  N.  Y.  The 
foundation  of  this  college  was  due,  pre-eminently,  to  the 
enthusiasm  and  labors  of  one  man,  Mr.  Henry  Howard, 
afterward  a  resident  of  Ithaca,  and  especially  to  his 
labors  in  connection  with  an  organization  called  the 
Mechanics'  Mutual  Protection,  which  had  numerous 
affiliated  societies  throughout  the  state  of  New  York. 


40       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

This  society  arose  in  that  unsettled  period  which  fol- 
lowed the  panic  of  1837.  This  was  the  era  of  the  rise 
of  corporations  with  a  maximum  of  wealth  and  a  mini- 
mum of  responsibility.  A  spirit  of  wild  speculation 
pervaded  the  country.  The  public  lands,  one  source 
of  the  national  revenue,  were  sold  and  paid  for  in  de- 
preciated local  currency.  Banks  were  even  organized 
whose  sole  object  was  to  issue  money  to  acquire  pos- 
session of  such  lands.  The  removal  of  the  United 
States  Deposit  Fund  from  the  various  state  banks  in 
which  it  had  been  placed,  and  its  distribution  among 
the  states,  deprived  these  banks  of  funds  which  had 
furnished  their  capital,  and  upon  which  their  pros- 
perity rested.  Financial  distress  followed  imme- 
diately. Banks  throughout  the  country  failed;  manu- 
factories were  closed  and  laborers  deprived  of  means 
of  support,  or  were  paid  in  depreciated  currency.  The 
nation  seemed  on  the  verge  of  financial  ruin.  A  wild 
panic  spread  throughout  the  country.  Bread  riots 
broke  out  in  the  metropolis,  and  agitators  fanned  the 
excitement  of  the  oppressed  and  suffering  people.  A 
special  session  of  Congress  was  called  to  take  measures 
to  avert  national  bankruptcy  and  to  relieve  popular 
distress.  The  relations  of  labor  to  capital  became  sub- 
jects of  earnest  and  often  excited  discussion.  At  this 
time  a  convention  of  mechanics  was  called  to  meet  in 
the  city  of  Buffalo,  and  an  organization  was  formed 
called  the  Mechanics'  Mutual  Protection  (July  13^ 
1843).  Its  object  was  a  noble  one.  It  sought  to 
diffuse  a  more  general  knowledge  of  the  scientific  prin- 
ciples governing  mechanics  and  the  arts,  and  to  elevate 
workmen,  by  making  them  independent,  and  increasing 
their  proficiency  in  their  several  callings,  by  rendering 
to  each  other  counsel  and  mutual  assistance,  which 
would  elevate  the  life  of  the  mechanic,  and  protect 
him  from  the  encroachments  of  wealth  and  power,. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      41 


which  might  combine  against  him,  and  to  enable  him 
to  secure  remunerative  wages,  and,  above  all,  to 
awaken  a  common  interest  in  his  profession. 

In  the  winter  of  1848  four  men  met  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Howard,  in  Lockport,  to  discuss  plans  for  a  tech- 
nical school,  which,  if  approved,  were  to  be  presented 
to  the  society  of  their  order  in  Lockport.  These  men 
were  Henry  Howard,  D.  H.  Burtis,  J.  P.  Murphy,  and 
R.  P.  Butrick.  The  Hon.  Washington  Hunt,  at  that 
time  comptroller  of  the  state  and  afterward  governor, 
approved  of  the  plan.  The  address  which  Mr.  Howard 
prepared  embodied  a  history  of  efforts  to  establish 
agricultural  and  technical  schools  in  Europe  and  in  the 
various  states  of  this  country,  and  also  the  results  of 
manual-labor  schools  in  Switzerland  and  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  During  the  years  1848  and  1849,  Mr. 
Howard,  although  called  a  visionary,  delivered  this 
address  before  various  associations  of  the  Mutual  Pro- 
tection. The  purpose  to  found  such  an  institution  met 
the  views  of  the  most  thoughtful  members  of  the  local 
society,  and  the  address  was  published  and  distributed 
among  the  lodges,  ''  Protections,"  throughout  the 
state,  about  seventy  in  number. 

Mr.  Horace  Greeley,  with  his  large  interest  in  what- 
ever concerned  the  welfare  of  humanity,  published  an 
editorial  in  the  Tribune  in  Jime,  1850,  warmly  advo- 
cating the  project  of  founding  a  state  college  of 
practical  science;  and  proposed,  first,  that  the  col- 
lege should  embrace  instruction  in  agriculture  as 
well  as  in  mechanics,  and  that  the  farmers  should  be 
invited  to  co-operate  in  founding  it;  that  it  should 
be  erected  on  a  square  mile  of  land,  which  should 
contain  a  model  farm  and  nursery;  that  all  stu- 
dents should  attend  the  lectures  on  mechanical  and 
agricultural  subjects,  and  labor  in  the  field  in  the 
brightest    and    best    farming    weather,    and    in    the 


42       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

mechanical  department  in  "  sour  "  and  inclement 
weather.  Mr.  Greeley  believed  that  an  education 
should  not  be  a  gift  of  charity,  but  that  the  future 
mechanics  and  artisans  of  our  state  would  prefer  to 
win  it  by  labor.  He  proposed  that  the  institution 
should  be  founded  by  a  stock  company,  with  a  capital 
of  $200,000,  and  that  each  contributor  should  receive 
five  per  cent,  interest  upon  his  stock.  Subscribers 
were  to  have  the  right  to  designate  a  pupil  for  the  uni- 
versity, but  the  pupil  should  pay  his  own  expenses. 
Mr.  Greeley  thought  that  the  pupil  could  earn  his  ex- 
penses within  fifty  dollars  the  first  year ;  that  he  could 
earn  his  entire  expenses  the  second  year;  fifty  dollars 
more  than  his  expenses  the  third,  and  seventy-five  dol- 
lars more  than  his  expenses  the  fourth  year;  and  that 
he  would  thus  be  gradually  equipped  for  work  with 
ample  knowledge,  by  his  own  efforts. 

Mr.  Greeley  believed  that  the  cost  of  establishing  a 
complete  university  would  amount  to  $100,000,  and 
stated  that  he  knew  where  $1,000  of  that  sum  could  be 
obtained.  Even  supposing  that  the  university  should 
ultimately  cost  $200,000,  he  believed  that  it  could  pro- 
vide board  and  instruction  for  1,000  boys,  and  that  it 
would  earn  an  interest  of  five  per  cent,  on  the  capital ; 
or,  in  other  words,  that  the  labor  of  each  student,  apart 
from  the  cost  of  his  education,  would  amount  to  ten 
dollars  a  year.  The  citizen  who  subscribed  $1,000 
should  be  entitled  to  designate  one  pupil  for  the  uni- 
versity; subscribers  of  less  amounts  might  associate. 
and  their  joint  contributions  amounting  to  $1,000 
would  authorize  them  to  nominate  a  pupil. 

The  labor  question  was  at  this  time  paramount,  and 
the  influence  of  a  society  like  this  mechanics '  organiza- 
tion was  able  to  exercise  a  powerful  influence  in  any 
election. 

On  August  15, 1851,  a  company  of  seventeen  men  met 


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CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      43 

in  Lockport  in  the  hall  of  the  Mechanics'  Mutual  Pro- 
tection, No.  1,  and  formed  an  organization  to  promote 
a  mechanical  college.  They  elected  many  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  the  state  as  members.  Among  the 
names  which  appear  in  their  records  at  this  time  are 
those  of  William  H.  Seward,  Martin  Van  Buren,  San- 
ford  E.  Church,  afterwards  chief  judge  of  the  state  of 
New  York,  Erastus  Corning,  Thurlow  Weed,  and  Gen- 
eral James  F.  Wadsworth.  A  week  later  Horace 
Greeley  was  elected  a  member,  and  from  this  time  his 
active  participation  in  founding  the  People's  College 
and  his  later  connection  with  Cornell  University  dates. 
The  first  officers  of  the  association  were  Samuel 
Wright,  president;  Joel  Cranson,  vice-president;  Har- 
rison Howard,  secretary;  James  P.  Murphy,  treasurer. 
This  organization  proposed  to  make  its  power  felt  in 
the  choice  of  candidates  for  the  legislature  and  state 
officers.  With  this  purpose,  letters  were  sent  to  candi- 
dates of  both  parties,  inquiring  as  to  their  attitude 
toward  the  proposed  college.  Before  the  election  of 
Washington  Hunt  as  governor,  Mr.  Howard  wrote  to 
him  asking  him  if  he  would  recommend  the  college  to 
the  state  in  his  inaugural  message.  Mr.  Hunt  stated 
that  he  had  already,  in  a  letter  to  the  president  of  the 
American  Institute,  expressed  himself  in  favor  of  a 
mechanical  school,  such  as  was  proposed,  and  added, 
*'  Whether  in  or  out  of  office,  I  shall  go  with  you  and 
your  friends  in  establishing  such  an  institution  and 
securing  for  it,  not  only  a  charter,  but  its  full  share  in 
any  bounty  of  the  state.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
the  state  will  endow  an  agricultural  college.  Why 
should  not  the  mechanical  interests  be  placed  on  the 
same  footing?  My  impressions  are  in  favor  of  one 
institution  divided  into  two  departments,  one  agricul- 
tural, the  other  mechanical.  I  made  out  a  statement 
recently  for  some  friends  in  New  York,  showing  what 


44      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  state  had  expended  for  colleges,  while  nothing  had 
been  done  for  the  men  who  toil  in  farming  or  mechan- 
ical pursuits.  I  wish  to  see  these  pursuits  made  intel- 
lectual as  they  should  be." 

As  Governor  Hunt  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  only 
262,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  mechanical 
organizations  throughout  the  state  (seventy  in  num- 
ber), which  united  to  support  his  candidacy,  contrib- 
uted to  determine  his  election.  Similarly,  when  the 
Hon.  Horatio  Seymour  was  a  candidate  for  governor 
in  1852,  an  inquiry  was  addressed  to  him  as  to  whether 
he  would  favor  the  new  college.  While  prudently  re- 
fraining from  entering  into  any  engagement  which 
would  limit  his  action  thereafter,  his  attitude  was 
known  to  be  favorable  to  an  enterprise  in  which  so 
much  public  interest  had  been  aroused,  and  he  com- 
mended the  subject  of  such  a  college  to  the  favorable 
consideration  of  the  legislature,  in  his  first  message. 

An  important  meeting  of  the  People's  College  Asso- 
ciation, as  it  was  now  called,  was  held  in  Rochester, 
Thursday,  August  20,  1851,  when  resolutions  were 
passed  setting  forth  the  need  of  an  institution  of  this 
kind,  and  emphasizing  the  fact  that  education,  to  be 
universal,  must  be  practical;  that  the  security  and 
power  of  the  state  rest  upon  the  intelligence  and  virtue 
of  the  people;  and  that  no  free  community  can  suifer 
any  portion  of  its  youth  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  with- 
out damage  to  its  vital  interests  and  peril  to  its  lib- 
erties.   Among  other  resolutions  it  was 

'*  Resolved:  That  education,  to  be  universal,  must  be 
eminently  and  thoroughly  practical,  must  be  adapted 
to  the  wants  morally,  intellectually,  and  physically,  of 
individuals  in  every  sphere  of  life;  and  that  the  only 
rational  hope  of  interest  in  the  great  majority  for 
higher  education,  capable  of  inducing  them  to  make 
sacrifices  for  its  acquirements,  must  be  based  on  its 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      45 

adaptation  to  the  needs  of  industry  and  the  uses  of 
everyday  life. 

"  Resolved:  That  while  many  departments  of  profes- 
sional life  would  seem  to  be  crowded  with  aspirants  for 
employment  and  success  therein,  there  is  a  manifest 
and  deplorable  deficiency  of  scientific  and  thoroughly 
qualified  farmers,  architects,  miners,  etc.,  who  should 
bring  the  great  truths  of  geology,  chemistry,  me- 
chanics, etc.,  to  bear  intimately  and  beneficially  on  all 
the  operations  of  productive  labor,  thereby  increasing 
its  efficiency  and  its  fruitfulness,  and  we  look  to  an 
improved  system  of  collegiate  education  for  the  neces- 
sary and  proper  corrective. 

''  Resolved:  That  the  current  system  of  education  is 
unjust  to  woman  in  its  higher  departments,  excluding 
her  from  advantages  and  opportunities  which  are  pro- 
vided at  the  common  cost  for  men  alone,  and  we  regard 
the  arbitrary  separation  of  the  sexes  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  as  conducive  neither  to  propriety  of  man- 
ners nor  purity  of  heart;  and  while  we  recognize  the 
truth  that  Nature  has  indicated  for  the  two  sexes 
diverse  aptitudes  and  duties,  we  insist  that  woman, 
like  man,  shall  be  left  free  to  acquire  such  an  education 
and  pursue  such  occupations  as  her  own  sense  of  fit- 
ness and  propriety  shall  dictate." 

It  was  further  resolved  that,  as  all  are  commanded 
to  work,  and  no  one  can  be  sure  of  passing  through 
life  exempt  from  the  physical  necessity  of  laboring 
with  the  hands  for  food,  therefore,  all  should  be  so 
trained  and  educated  as  to  qualify  them  for  usefulness 
and  efficiency  in  manual  labor. 

It  was  provided  that  the  People's  College  should  be 
subject  to  the  control  of  no  sect  or  party;  that  produc- 
tive labor  should  be  practically  honored  and  inflexibly 
required  of  all;  that  each  student  should  be  free  to 
prosecute  such  studies  as  might  be  indicated  by  his 


46      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

parents  or  legal  guardians,  and  to  graduate  when  mas- 
ter of  these  subjects  only.  His  employment  was 
adapted,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  his  tastes,  his 
strength,  and  his  capacities,  and  it  was  expected  that 
after  the  first  two  years  every  student  would  be  able 
to  pay  his  way  and  prosecute  his  studies  independently, 
without  reliance  on  extraneous  resources.  It  is 
noticeable  that  here  the  first  plea  for  co-education  was 
presented,  and  after  strenuous  debate  passed  almost 
unanimously,  being  vigorously  supported  by  Mr. 
Greeley,  who  reported  the  resolutions.  Not  all  the 
supporters  of  the  People's  College  had  contemplated 
co-education  as  an  inseparable  part  of  the  plan.  On 
September  8,  1853,  the  Hon.  Washington  Hunt,  in  a 
letter  commenting  upon  a  proposed  address,  said: 
*'  My  impression  has  been  that  the  department  (of  co- 
education) does  not  properly  come  within  the  manual- 
labor  system  proposed  by  the  People's  College.  I 
think  that  young  men  and  young  women  should  be  edu- 
cated at  different  institutions.  A  majority  of  the 
trustees  think  differently,  no  doubt,  and  I  will  not 
object  to  having  the  experiment  tried;  but  I  will  not 
(with  my  present  view)  profess  that  I  have  any  faith 
in  its  success.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  trustees, 
which  I  hope  to  attend,  this  subject  may  be  discussed, 
when  I  will  give  my  views  more  fully;  meanwhile,  if 
this  part  of  the  address  is  retained,  I  prefer  to  have 
my  signature  omitted." 

In  September  of  this  year  an  industrial  congress 
met  in  Albany  and  passed  resolutions  favoring  the  pro- 
posed university,  and  recommending  that  at  the  State 
Fair  in  Rochester  the  farmers  should  assemble  in  mass 
meeting  and  discuss  this  important  proposition. 

The  proposed  grand  assembly  of  the  farmers  of  the 
state  in  Rochester  did  not  occur;  but  several  men,  in- 
cluding Mr.  Greeley,  the  Hon.  T.  C.  Peters,  and  one  or 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      47 

two  others,  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  D.  D.  T.  Moore  and 
discussed  the  proposed  college.  Mr.  Greeley  prepared 
subsequently  a  draft  of  a  plan  of  the  college  and  sent 
it  to  Mr.  Peters.  In  correspondence  with  Mr.  Howard 
and  Mr.  Peters,  the  details  of  this  prospectus  were 
agreed  upon,  and  it  was  published.  On  September  11 
the  association  of  the  new  college  met  in  Lockport  and 
adopted  the  recommendation  of  the  Hon.  T.  C.  Peters, 
editor  of  the  Wool  Grower,  that  the  farmers  should 
be  invited  to  participate  in  founding  the  new  col- 
lege. 

A  meeting  of  the  society,  announced  to  be  held  in 
Buffalo,  January  15,  1852,  is  interesting  as  showing 
how  the  early  conception  and  support  of  this  movement 
for  the  People's  College  rested  upon  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  few  individuals.  When  the  secretary  reached  the 
city  to  attend  this  meeting,  a  great  snowstorm  had  ob- 
structed all  communication  with  the  external  world. 
*'  The  few  who  were  interested  had  previous  engage- 
ments ;  one  was  busy  getting  the  Commercial  ready  for 
the  press,  others  had  oxen  to  buy  or  wives  to  marry." 
In  consequence  of  this  the  secretary  was  the  only  mem- 
ber present.  This  laborious  but  cheerful  individual 
repaired  to  his  hotel,  shut  himself  in  his  room,  elected 
officers,  and  passed  resolutions  submitted  by  the  absent 
Peters  and  enlarged  by  himself.  Letters  were  read 
from  men  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  movement, 
several  honorary  members  elected,  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  memorialize  the  legislature  for  an  act  of 
incorporation  of  the  People's  College,  the  shares  of 
which  were  limited  to  one  dollar  each,  and  an  as- 
sessment of  twenty-five  cents  was  levied  upon  each 
member  of  the  Association  to  meet  current  expenses. 
An  elaborate  report  of  this  meeting  was  published  in 
the  press  of  the  state.  At  the  close  of  the  records  the 
secretary  adds :    "I  hope,  when  the  college  is  estab- 


48      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

lished,  I  shall  be  excused  for  this  deception,  as  I  be- 
lieve that  if  this  meeting  had  been  a  failure,  much 
delay  would  have  been  the  result.  Using  men  for  a 
good  purpose,  provided  it  is  clear  that  no  injury  can 
come  to  any  human  being  as  a  result,  is  not  a  sin  in 
my  humble  opinion." 

Subsequent  meetings  were  held,  the  main  purpose  of 
which  was  to  secure  an  act  of  incorporation  from  the 
legislature  and  to  issue  additional  appeals  to  secure 
the  interest  of  the  public.  Meetings  in  Brooklyn  were 
attended  by  Horace  Greeley,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
and  Professor  Youmans.  The  attempt  to  secure  a 
charter  from  the  legislature  finally  succeeded,  and  an 
act  of  incorporation  was  granted  at  an  extra  session, 
April  12,  1853.  Since  the  period  when  the  foundation 
of  a  People's  College  was  first  proposed,  Mr.  Howard, 
the  unwearied  agent,  had  canvassed  the  state,  and  ad- 
dressed meetings  in  nearly  all  of  the  large  cities,  and 
various  agricultural  and  educational  conventions,  in 
behalf  of  the  proposed  college.  In  this  work  he  was 
engaged  until  August,  1855,  when  efforts  to  raise 
money  were  suspended  on  account  of  the  financial 
stringency. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  People's  Col- 
lege was  held  in  Owego,  May  25,  1853,  at  which  D.  C. 
McCallum  was  elected  president  of  the  board,  A.  I. 
Wyncoop  of  Chemung,  vice-president,  Tracy  Morgan, 
treasurer,  and  Henry  Howard,  secretary  and  general 
agent. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  People's  Col- 
lege held  at  Binghamton,  November  26,  1856,  a  resolu- 
tion was  presented, ''  That,  as  a  Board  of  Trustees,  we 
will  use  our  influence  for  the  location  of  the  college  in 
the  county  which  will  first  make  up  the  balance  of  the 
$50,000  needed  to  locate. ' '  It  appears  that  this  resolu- 
tion was  a  shrewd  parliamentary  device,  the  true  object 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      49 


of  which  was  not  then  recognized,  to  secure  the  influence 
of  the  trustees  to  have  the  college  located  in  Havana. 
The  active  agent  in  securing  this  location  was  the  Hon. 
Charles  Cook,  who  later  came  forward  and  offered  to 
make  up  the  subscription  necessary  to  authorize  the 
trustees  to  choose  the  site  for  the  college.  Commis- 
sioners were  appointed  to  visit  Havana  and  to  examine 
the  location  which  had  been  offered  for  the  college  by- 
Mr.  Cook.  Previous  failure  and  discouragement  in- 
duced the  trustees  to  look  favorably  upon  any  prop- 
osition that  would  secure  the  establishment  of  the 
college,  for  which  many  of  them  had  labored  so 
long. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders,  held  in  Havana, 
January  15,  1857,  the  question  of  location  was  voted 
upon.  The  previous  excitement  had  been  intense,  and 
efforts  had  been  made  to  secure  favorable  ballots  and 
proxies  in  favor  of  the  location  in  Havana.  Amidst 
what  is  reported  as  a  perfect  tempest  of  applause  and 
the  wildest  enthusiasm,  the  number  of  votes  in  favor 
of  such  location  was  reported  as  1,847,  and  opposed  as 
1,137,  leaving  a  majority  of  710  in  behalf  of  Havana. 
Active  measures  were  now  taken  to  organize  the  col- 
lege. The  site  and  the  farm  which  had  been  offered 
were  regarded  as  satisfactory,  and  an  effort  was  made 
to  raise  a  sum  of  $250,000  in  order  to  secure  the  success 
of  the  enterprise.  Committees  were  appointed  to 
superintend  the  erection  of  buildings,  to  arrange  a 
course  of  study,  and  to  nominate  professors. 

At  the  meeting  of  August  12,  1857,  plans  for  the  new 
college  were  presented,  the  main  building  of  which 
should  contain  a  chapel  which  would  seat  500  students, 
also  lecture  rooms,  a  chemical  laboratory,  library,  cab- 
inets, etc.  On  the  following  day  the  Rev.  Amos  Brown 
was  elected  president  of  the  college,  and  Mr.  Cook  was 
made  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  also 


50      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

of  the  Building  Committee.  The  National  Land  Grant 
Act  in  behalf  of  scientific  and  practical  education, 
known  as  the  Morrill  Bill,  was  introduced  soon  after  in 
Congress,  and  the  trustees  made  an  appropriation  to 
send  President  Brown  to  Washington  in  order  to  pro- 
mote the  purposes  of  the  bill.  In  the  meantime,  the 
erection  of  the  proposed  college  building  proceeded, 
the  funds  for  which  were  largely  contributed  by  Mr. 
Cook.  It  is  probable  that  most  of  the  subscriptions 
which  had  been  made  during  previous  years  had  lapsed, 
or  that  their  collection  had  proved  impossible.  The 
financial  crisis  of  1857  now  began,  and  all  hope  of 
securing  an  endowment  from  popular  subscription  was 
at  an  end.  The  only  hope  of  fulfilling  the  conditions 
upon  which  the  charter  was  given  was  based  on  the 
national  aid  expected  in  the  passage  of  the  Morrill 
Bill.  It  is  of  interest  to  notice  the  provisions  of  the 
charter  of  the  People's  College.  It  provided  that 
the  capital  stock  of  the  corporation  of  the  college 
should  consist  of  $250,000,  that  the  stock  should  be  in 
shares  of  one  dollar  each,  and  that  every  stockholder 
should  be  entitled  to  but  one  vote  in  the  choice  of 
trustees  or  in  any  other  business  to  be  determined  by 
the  votes  of  the  stockholders.  Whenever  the  sum  of 
$50,000  was  subscribed  and  paid  in  to  the  trustees,  it 
was  their  duty  to  call  a  meeting  of  said  stockholders 
to  elect  commissioners,  who  should  select  the  most  ad- 
vantageous location  for  the  college,  and  report  at  a 
subsequent  meeting.  The  dissemination  of  practical 
science,  including  chemistry,  mineralogy,  and  those 
sciences  most  immediately  and  vitally  essential  to  agri-. 
culture  and  the  useful  arts,  also  for  instruction  in  the 
classics,  was  said  to  be  the  aim  of  the  new  college. 
Manual  labor  for  five  days  in  the  week  in  some  branch 
of  productive  industry  was  required  from  every 
teacher  and  pupil,  such  labor  in  no  case  to  exceed 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      51 

twenty  nor  to  fall  below  ten  hours;  and  each  student 
was  to  be  credited  with  and  ultimately  paid  for  the 
product  of  his  labor,  less  the  cost  of  qualifying  him  to 
perform  it  effectively.  No  student  was  to  be  permitted 
to  graduate  with  honor,  until  he  had  passed  a  certain 
examination  with  regard  to  his  proficiency  in  agricul- 
ture, or  some  branch  of  manufacturing  or  mechanical 
industry,  and  a  free  choice  was  accorded  to  the  student 
to  pursue  such  branches  of  learning  as  he  might  select. 
The  special  line  of  work  which  the  student  had  fol- 
lowed was  to  be  specified  in  his  diploma.  Many  fea- 
tures of  this  scheme  were  adopted  later  by  Mr.  Cornell 
in  the  charter  of  this  university,  and  the  influence  of 
such  views  on  a  mind  interested  as  he  was  in  practical 
education  cannot  be  overestimated. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  college  was  laid  on  Septem- 
ber 2, 1858,  when  it  is  estimated  that  15,000  people  were 
present.  The  address  on  that  occasion  was  delivered 
by  President  Mark  Hopkins  of  Williams  College.  The 
enthusiasm  and  hopes  manifested  throughout  the  state 
in  favor  of  the  new  college  were  very  great.  The  fail- 
ure of  Congress  to  pass  the  Land  Grant  Act,  upon 
which  so  much  depended,  followed  by  the  sickness  of 
Mr.  Cook,  practically  put  an  end  to  the  further  prog- 
ress and  formal  opening  of  the  college.  Mr.  Cook  had 
frequently  stated  that  he  purposed  to  endow  the  col- 
lege with  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  to  be- 
queath to  it  his  entire  fortune.  After  the  erection  of 
the  college  building  his  interest  ceased,  possibly  on 
account  of  serious  illness.  A  faculty  eminent  in  their 
various  departments  had  been  appointed,  a  few  of 
whom  met  at  the  time  of  the  proposed  opening  of  the 
college. 

By  an  act  of  the  legislature,  passed  April  24,  1862, 
the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  two  years 
was  given  by  the  legislature  to  the  college,  but  the 


52      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

comptroller  refused  to  pay  this  sum,  upon  the  grounds 
that  the  conditions  of  the  grant  had  not  been  fulfilled. 
The  faculty,  therefore,  disappointed  in  any  prospect 
of  recompense  for  their  services,  with  the  exception 
of  four  professors,  resigned.  One  further  prospect  of 
a  successful  existence  arose  after  the  passage  by  Con- 
gress of  the  Land  Grant  Act  of  July  2,  1862.  After 
an  exciting  session  of  the  legislature,  in  which  all  the 
recognized  ability  of  Mr.  Cook  as  a  lobbyist,  and  his 
remarkable  power  of  managing  men,  were  required,  the 
transfer  of  this  noble  national  gift  to  the  People 's  Col- 
lege was  effected  on  May  14,  1863.  This  gift  was 
granted  upon  the  condition  that  the  trustees  should 
show  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Regents  of  the  univer- 
sity within  three  years  from  the  passage  of  the  act, 
that  the  college  was  provided  with  at  least  ten  pro- 
fessors competent  to  give  instruction  in  such  branches 
of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanic arts,  including  military  tactics,  as  required  by 
the  act  of  Congress,  and  that  the  said  trustees  owned 
and  were  possessed  of  suitable  college  grounds,  and 
buildings  properly  arranged  and  furnished  for  the 
care  and  accommodation  of  at  least  250  students,  with 
a  suitable  library,  philosophical  and  chemical  appa- 
ratus and  cabinets  of  natural  history,  and  also  a  suit- 
able farm,  of  at  least  200  acres,  for  the  proper  teaching 
of  agriculture,  with  suitable  farm  buildings,  farming 
implements,  and  stock,  and  also  the  necessary  shops, 
tools,  machinery,  and  other  arrangements  for  teaching 
mechanic  arts,  all  of  which  property  must  be  held  by 
the  said  trustees  absolutely  and  fully  paid  for. 

One  striking  feature  of  the  act  of  the  legislature 
bestowing  this  land  upon  the  People's  College  was 
the  provision  for  the  free  education  of  students 
from  each  county  of  the  state.  The  number  of 
such   students   was   to   be   designated   from   time   to 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      53 

time  by  the  Regents  of  the  university,  and  the  stu- 
dents themselves  were  to  be  selected  by  the  chan- 
cellor of  the  university  and  the  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  who  should  jointly  publish  such 
rules  and  regulations  in  regard  thereto  as  would  in 
their  opinion  secure  proper  selections,  and  stimulate 
competition  in  the  academies  and  public  and  private 
schools  in  this  state.  Such  students  were  to  be  exempt 
from  any  payment  for  board,  tuition,  and  room  rent. 
Preference  was  to  be  given  to  the  sons  of  those  who 
had  died  in  the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United 
States.  A  provision  for  free  scholarships  from  the 
public  schools  is  a  feature  of  many  of  the  earliest  col- 
leges established  under  the  Land  Grant  Act.  In  re- 
ceiving, therefore,  this  gift  from  the  state,  Cornell 
University  voluntarily  assumed,  with  the  advantage  of 
a  more  elaborate  and  definite  specification  of  condi- 
tions, this  provision  of  the  People's  College.  It  is 
also  noticeable  that  in  the  charter  of  the  People's  Col- 
lege as  passed  by  the  legislature,  the  provision  for 
co-education  and  for  the  instruction  of  women  students 
in  various  branches  of  female  industry  was  omitted. 

One  subject  of  instruction  which  had  been  advocated 
by  the  secretary  in  his  various  addresses  in  connection 
with  the  People's  College,  was  military  science  and 
tactics.  In  a  note  upon  his  lecture  on  this  subject  he 
has  this  memorandum:  *'  Handle  the  above  carefully 
in  country  places;  only  refer  to  West  Point  and  the 
order  that  military  duties  produce." 

In  drawing  up  the  proposed  plan  of  study  in  1854, 
Mr.  Greeley  was  opposed  to  having  military  science  in 
the  course.  Mr.  Howard  and  Professor  Lindsley  took 
the  opposite  view  in  the  committee,  and  after  long  dis- 
cussion, Mr.  Greeley  assented  to  the  following  state- 
ment :  ' '  The  students  of  the  college  shall  be  instructed 
in  the  principles  of  the  tactics  provided  for  the  dis- 


54      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cipline  of  the  militia  of  the  state  of  New  York,  and 
shall  be  familiarized  with  their  practice  at  stated  and 
regular  drills;  but  the  performance  of  military  duty 
shall  not  conflict  with  the  proper  prosecution  of  ac- 
ademic or  other  studies,  nor  shall  it  be  required  of  any 
whose  convictions  or  principles  are  incompatible  with 
the  bearing  of  arms."  Later,  in  1862,  Mr.  Greeley 
thought  it  well  to  have  a  few  well-drilled  men  scattered 
about  the  country  in  case  of  war. 

The  location  of  the  People's  College  in  Havana  may 
be  regarded  as  its  death  warrant;  it  fell  by  that  act 
under  the  immediate  domination  of  Mr.  Cook,  upon 
whom,  as  the  largest  contributor  to  its  funds,  it  became 
absolutely  dependent.  The  long  duration  of  the 
struggle  to  raise  funds  had  necessarily  consumed  in  ex- 
penses a  large  part  of  what  had  been  contributed  for 
its  organization.  The  personal  ascendancy  of  Mr. 
Cook  was  manifest  in  the  choice  of  a  location  and  in 
the  election  of  a  president.  The  weary  subscribers, 
who  had  planned  with  enthusiasm  a  popular  college, 
saw  their  influence  weakened,  and  the  future  of  the  in- 
stitution, for  which  they  had  sacrificed  so  much,  im- 
periled in  its  fundamental  character.  The  Hon.  T.  C. 
Peters,  one  of  the  first  presidents  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  who  had  been  one  of  its  earliest  advocates 
and  had  labored  for  its  interests  in  the  legislature, 
resigned  his  office  on  December  6,  1858,  from  distrust 
of  the  influences  under  which  the  college  had  fallen, 
and  from  a  certain  pretentious,  extravagant,  and  im- 
practical character  which  the  college  building  had 
assumed. 

The  appropriation  of  the  entire  national  gift  to  the 
People 's  College  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  triumph  of 
legislative  manipulation.  The  college  was  not  orga- 
nized or  equipped,  while  the  State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, only  twenty  miles  away,  was  the  child  of  the  state, 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      55 

and  had  been  founded  by  a  loan  of  state  funds  and  in 
obedience  to  a  popular  demand.  To  pass  by  this  insti- 
tution, whose  work  had  already  begun  but  been  inter- 
rupted by  the  war,  and  to  bestow  this  splendid  endow- 
ment upon  a  college  not  yet  constituted,  save  prospec- 
tively, was  an  extraordinary  proof  of  the  power  of  a 
third  house  in  legislation. 

As  early  as  in  1826,  the  Hon.  James  Talmadge,  then 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  state,  in  his  report  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  to  inquire  into 
the  condition  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons in  New  York,  had  urged  that  it  was  not  sufficient 
that  the  sciences  connected  with  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  should  be  diligently  studied  and  cor- 
rectly understood  by  a  few  votaries  in  our  literary  in- 
stitutions. It  was  very  necessary  that  the  sciences 
essential  to  the  prosperity  of  manufacturing  industry 
should  be  especially  promoted.  The  report  proposed 
that  citizens  to  whom  circumstances  forbade  the  oppor- 
tunities of  an  academic  life  should  have  the  opportu- 
nity to  study  arts  as  applied  to  manufacturing  indus- 
tries. A  system  of  lectures  in  the  public  schools, 
having  this  purpose,  would  have  great  advantages.  It 
was  suggested  that  in  the  existing  colleges,  and  pos- 
sibly in  certain  academies,  courses  of  lectures  should 
be  established  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  instruc- 
tion in  agriculture,  mechanics,  and  the  useful  arts. 

After  various  memorials  by  the  State  Agricultural 
Society  and  reports  by  legislative  committees,  a  char- 
ter was  granted  for  an  agricultural  college  on  May  6, 
1836.  It  was  proposed  to  purchase  a  farm  near  the 
city  of  Albany,  and  erect  an  agricultural  college ;  but  as 
the  funds  for  the  support  of  such  an  institution  were 
to  be  raised  by  shares  in  a  stock  company,  the  project 
failed.  Later,  commissioners  from  the  eight  judicial 
districts  of  the  state  met  to  mature  a  plan  for  an  agri- 


56      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cultural  college  and  experimental  farm,  in  obedience 
to  a  concurrent  resolution  of  the  legislature  passed 
April  6,  1849.  Their  report  was  presented  at  the  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature  of  1850.  After  various  efforts, 
in  which  no  result  was  reached,  a  charter  was  granted 
April  15,  1853,  for  the  New  York  State  Agricultural 
College.  The  passage  of  this  act  was  largely  due  to 
the  labor  of  John  Delafield  and  John  A.  King,  after- 
wards governor  of  the  state.  It  was  proposed  at  first 
to  locate  the  college,  which  was  to  be  founded  by  pop- 
ular subscription,  upon  the  Oakland  farm  in  Fayette, 
the  home  of  Mr.  Delafield.  It  is  interesting  to  find 
among  the  names  of  the  original  trustees  that  of  Will- 
iam Kelly,  later  one  of  the  charter  trustees  and  warm- 
est friends  and  benefactors  of  Cornell  University. 
Owing  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Delafield,  action  in  behalf 
of  the  new  college  ceased.  After  two  years '  delay,  the 
citizens  of  Ovid,  under  the  inspiring  influence  of  the 
Rev.  Amos  Brown  (January  22,  1855),  appointed  a 
committee  to  petition  the  legislature  to  locate  the  col- 
lege in  their  vicinity,  instead  of  in  Fayette.  On 
August  1  of  the  same  year,  the  citizens  of  this  county 
met  to  dedicate  the  new  Ovid  Academy  and  to  hear  ad- 
dresses on  the  proposal  to  establish  the  State  Agricul- 
tural College  among  them.  The  citizens  pledged  them- 
selves to  raise  $40,000,  and  asked  $200,000  of  the  legis- 
lature for  its  endowment.  Through  the  influence  of 
this  meeting,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  March  31, 
1856,  authorizing  a  loan  to  the  trustees  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College  of  the  sum  of  $40,000  from  the  income  of 
the  United  States  Deposit  Fund,  for  the  payment  of  the 
land  and  the  erection  of  buildings,  a  mortgage  upon 
the  same  being  given  to  secure  the  repayment  without 
interest  twenty  years  later,  on  January  1,  1877.  It 
was  provided  that  $40,000  should  be  raised  and  applied 
by  the  trustees,  as  a  condition  precedent  to  this  loan. 


'a^ 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      57 

By  an  amendment  to  this  act,  passed  May  6,  1863,  the 
grant  was  made  in  money  from  any  funds  in  the  treas- 
ury, as  the  Deposit  Fund  had  failed  to  supply  the  sum. 
Amid  all  these  proceedings  we  may,  perhaps,  properly 
regard  the  activity  and  enthusiasm  of  Principal  Brown 
as  the  moving  spring.  In  the  legislature  the  Hon. 
Erastus  Brooks  presented  the  matter  before  the  Senate 
in  a  most  vigorous  and  eloquent  address.  He  begged 
that  body  to  give  practical  vitality  to  the  first  agricul- 
tural college  in  the  state  and  in  the  Union,  adding  that 
there  were  in  this  state  between  twelve  and  thirteen 
million  acres  of  unimproved  land,  the  value  of  which 
by  intelligent  and  well-directed  efforts  might  be  quad- 
rupled. While  Great  Britain  supported  seventy  agri- 
cultural schools  and  colleges,  France  seventy-five, 
Prussia  thirty-two,  Austria  thirty-three,  and  even  des- 
potic Russia  sixty-eight,  in  New  York  there  was  not 
one,  and  in  the  United  States  not  one.  He  added,  "  I 
feel  mortified  for  my  own  state  and  country."  The 
interest  in  agricultural  education  which  Mr.  Brooks 
had  thus  manifested  in  the  Senate  of  the  state  of  New 
York  was  exhibited  later  in  his  connection  with  Cornell 
University,  of  which  he,  in  company  with  Mr.  Kelly, 
became  one  of  the  charter  members.  The  passage  of 
the  act  establishing  this  college  was  received  with  great 
enthusiasm  among  the  people  of  Central  New  York. 
The  question  of  the  location  of  the  new  college  awak- 
ened equal  interest.  Desirable  sites  were  offered  on 
the  west  shore  of  Lake  Cayuga,  the  choice  of  which  was 
supported  by  the  citizens  of  Ithaca.  The  people  of 
Seneca  County  desired  its  location  upon  the  shores  of 
the  lake  of  that  name.  The  Ithaca  people  of  that  day 
urged  in  behalf  of  a  site  upon  Lake  Cayuga  the  greater 
variety  of  soil,  finer  shores,  and  the  better  railroad 
connections.  The  citizens  of  Geneva  supported  the 
interests  of  the  rival  site  on  Seneca  Lake.     Finally  a 


58      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

farm  of  670  acres  was  purchased,  the  cost  of  which,  at 
sixty-five  dollars  an  acre,  amounted  to  $43,000,  which 
was  more  than  the  entire  amount  of  the  state  loan. 
The  trustees  took  possession  of  the  farm  April  1,  1857. 
The  Hon.  Samuel  Cheever  had  been  elected  president 
of  the  college.    In  December  of  this  year  plans  were 
adopted  for  the  college  building.     In  May,  1858,  the 
erection  of  the  south  wing  was  authorized  at  a  cost  not 
exceeding  $30,000.     The  plan  of  the  college  contem- 
plated  a   central   building   ninety   feet   square,    four 
stories    high,    surmounted    by    an    observatory    and 
towers,   and  having  a  north   and   south  wing.     The 
corner  stone  was  not  laid  until  July  7, 1859.  The  build- 
ing progressed  rapidly,  but  could  not  be  completed 
until  the  autumn  of  the  following  year.     On  the  14th 
of  November,  1860,  a  notice  was  published  in  the  issue 
of  the  local  paper  which  contained  the  news  of  the  elec- 
tion of  Abraham  Lincoln,  that  the  college  would  be 
open  December  5,  1860.     Major  M.  R.  Patrick  was 
president  of  the  faculty;  William  H.  Brewer,  a  native 
of  Ithaca,  and  for  forty  years  (1864-1904)  professor 
of  agriculture  in  the  Shefl&eld  Scientific  School,  was 
professor  of  agricultural  chemistry  and  botany;  Rev. 
Dr.  George  Kerr  of  Franklin,  professor  of  philosophy 
and  astronomy;  and  Messrs.  Kimball  and  Mitchell, pro- 
fessors  of  chemistry  and  mathematics   respectively. 
In  the  three  years'  course  of  study  proposed,  the  lan- 
guages were  omitted,  and  the  students  at  graduation 
were  expected  to  be  familiar  with  all  details   of  a 
farmer's  work,  embracing  the  scientific  knowledge  of 
agriculture,  landscape  gardening,  veterinary  science, 
stock  breeding,  garden  husbandry,  plants  and  grasses, 
soils,  etc.     The  popular  excitement,  destined  to  culmi- 
nate in  the  Civil  War,  was  so  great  that  students  enter- 
ing the  college  were  but  few  in  number.     Soon  after 
the  fall  of  Sumter,  the  president,  a  graduate  of  West 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       59 


Point  and  a  soldier  of  the  Mexican  and  Florida  wars, 
was  summoned  to  Albany  to  assist  in  organizing  the 
volunteers  and  preparing  them  for  service.  The 
southern  students  who  were  members  of  the  college 
returned  home ;  others  enlisted,  and  the  college  came  to 
an  end.  It  was  expected  that  it  would  soon  reopen, 
but  in  March,  1862,  it  was  officially  announced  that  the 
college  doors  were  closed  for  the  present.  Portions  of 
the  college  domain,  which  were  not  covered  by  the 
mortgage  to  the  state,  were  attached  by  the  sheriff  and 
sold.  The  unfortunate  circumstances  which  had  at- 
tended the  opening  of  the  college,  together  with  its 
embarrassed  financial  condition,  gave  no  hope  of  suc- 
cess in  an  effort  to  secure  from  the  state  a  grant  of  the 
land  bestowed  by  Congress  for  technical  and  liberal 
education.  In  January,  1866,  the  Willard  Asylum  for 
the  Insane  was  established  on  the  site  of  what  it  had 
been  proposed  should  be  the  first  agricultural  college 
of  the  state. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    FOUNDER    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY,    THE 
HON.    EZRA    CORNELL 

"  J^  STATURE  somewhat  above  the  average,  a 
/^L  form  slender  and  rigid,  a  thin  face  of  the 
/  m  well-known  Puritan  type,  with  lips  which 
"^  -^~  expressed  in  their  compression  an  unwonted 
firmness  of  character,  the  slow,  steady,  stiff  gait,  a  de- 
meanor of  unusual  gravity,  but  which  was  sometimes 
a  little  too  brusque  to  be  dignified,  a  sharp  eye  with  a 
straightforward  look  in  it,  a  voice  tending  a  little  to 
shrillness  and  harshness,  but  in  its  more  quiet  modula- 
tions not  unpleasant,  an  utterance  slow  and  precise,  as 
if  every  word  was  carefully  if  not  painfully  thought 
out — such  was  the  founder  of  Cornell  University  as  he 
walked  among  us  during  the  first  six  years  of  the  insti- 
tution's history.  In  whatever  community,  or  in  the 
midst  of  whatever  surroundings  his  lot  had  been  cast, 
he  would  have  been  a  man  of  mark,  A  stranger,  meet- 
ing him  in  the  crowded  railway  car,  would  straightway 
see  that  he  was  not  a  mere  individual  of  the  ordinary 
type,  that  he  possessed  strong  characteristics  which 
made  him  noticeably  different  from  other  men.  He 
had  a  good  memory  and  a  quick  eye,  and  was  a  close 
and  careful  observer  of  men  and  things.  .  .  .  His 
most  predominant  trait,  overlooking  all  others,  was  his 
complete  self-abnegation.  He  was  an  utterly  intensely 
unselfish  man ;  no  human  being,  with  similar  qualifica- 
tions in  other  respects,  could  be  more  thoroughly  unin- 
fluenced by  any  considerations  of  his  own  comfort,  of 
his  own  aggrandizement,  or  of  his  own  fame.    He  was 

60 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY;  A  HISTORY      61 

generous  alike  of  his  time,  his  labor,  and  his  wealth, 
and  no  thought  of  his  own  interest  ever  limited  the 
flow  of  this  generosity." 

In  such  words  as  these  the  death  of  Mr.  Cornell  was 
announced  to  the  university  world.  They  characterize 
his  outward  bearing  and  many  of  the  predominant 
characteristics  of  a  stern,  silent,  warm-hearted  nature. 

Mr.  Ezra  Cornell  was  of  Puritan  descent,  his  family 
having  settled  in  Swansea,  Mass,  His  ancestors 
on  both  sides  had  been  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  Like  most  of  the  early  residents  of  New 
England,  the  family  was  of  limited  resources,  and  in- 
dustry, simplicity,  and  economy  were  prevailing  traits 
in  the  family  life  of  the  time.  Mr.  Cornell's  father 
learned  the  potter's  trade,  but  he  was,  besides,  a  me- 
chanic both  practical  and  skilful.  He  early  removed 
to  Westchester  Landing,  N.  Y.,  and  engaged,  for  a 
time,  in  shipbuilding.  After  a  residence  in  Bergen 
County,  New  Jersey,  near  the  site  of  the  present  beau- 
tiful village  of  Englewood,  where  he  resumed  his  orig- 
inal craft  as  a  potter,  he  removed  to  De  Ruyter, 
N.  Y.  Here  he  established  himself  upon  a  farm,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  carried  on  profitably  the  manufacture 
of  earthenware.  This  was  the  early  home  of  his  son, 
Ezra  Cornell,  where,  in  a  community  of  Friends,  he 
grew  up  in  the  simple  and  healthy  life  which  charac- 
terizes the  members  of  this  communion.  Even  as  a 
boy,  amid  the  restricted  advantages  of  a  new  country, 
his  education  was  limited;  and  once,  when  but  sixteen 
years  of  age,  in  order  to  earn  the  privilege  of  attending 
a  winter  school,  in  company  with  a  younger  brother, 
he  cut  down  and  cleared  the  timber  upon  four  acres  of 
forest,  transforming  it  into  tillable  land.  A  year  or 
two  later  he  cut  timber  in  a  forest,  and  with  the  aid 
of  the  same  brother  erected  a  two-story  dwelling-house 
for  his  father,  at  that  time  the  largest  residence  in  the 


62      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY;  A  HISTORY 

town.  Having  thus  tested  his  capacity  for  work,  he 
went  forth,  and  was  engaged  for  the  next  three  years 
in  the  work  of  cutting  timber  for  shipment  to  New 
York,  and  later  as  a  machinist.  Ithaca  was  at  this 
time  a  village  of  two  thousand  inhabitants,  and  enjoyed 
the  benefit  of  a  thriving  trade  with  the  large  territory 
which  depended  upon  it  for  communication  with  the 
markets  of  the  external  world.  "  With  a  spare  suit 
of  clothes  and  a  few  dollars  in  his  pocket,  the  earnings 
of  his  previous  labors,  Ezra  Cornell  entered  Ithaca  on 
foot,  having  walked  from  his  father's  house  in  De  Ruy- 
ter,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  He  had  chosen  to  make 
the  journey  thus,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the 
expense  of  riding,  but  also  for  the  pleasure  he  enjoyed 
in  walking.  He  could  travel  forty  miles  per  day  with 
perfect  ease.  Without  a  single  acquaintance  in  the 
village,  and  with  no  introduction  or  certificate  of  char- 
acter in  any  form,  except  such  as  he  could  offer  in  his 
own  behalf,  he  arrived  in  Ithaca  with  youth,  courage, 
and  ambition  as  capital  stock,  determined  by  his  own 
exertions  to  earn  a  living  and  establish  himself  on  a 
permanent  and  prosperous  basis."  It  was  in  April, 
1828,  soon  after  his  arrival,  that  Mr,  Cornell  secured 
work  as  a  carpenter,  and  erected  at  the  corner  of 
Geneva  and  Clinton  streets  a  residence  which  is  still 
standing,  and  which  has  for  many  years  been  the  home 
of  the  Bloodgood  family.  Mr.  Cornell's  experience  for 
a  year  as  a  millwright  secured  employment  for  him  in 
certain  flouring  and  plaster  mills  at  Fall  Creek,  and 
for  the  next  twelve  years  he  was  a  manager  of  exten- 
sive interests,  which  often  involved  the  disbursement 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually.  Dr. 
Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  in  a  letter  written  thirty  years 
afterwards,  said  that  he  used  to  see  sitting  on  the  coun- 
ter of  his  uncle's  store  (Mr.  John  James  Speed's)  ''  a 
shrewd,  managing  chap  unfolding  schemes  for  carry- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      63 


ing  the  township  for  the  Whig  ticket.  That  obscure 
but  keen-witted  man  is  now  the  Ezra  Cornell  who  has 
founded  the  most  promising  university  in  New  York." 
Mr.  Cornell's  earl}^  interest  in  politics  is  manifest  from 
this  statement.  His  ability  as  a  mechanic  of  a  high 
order  was  shown  still  further,  not  merely  in  erecting 
mills,  but  also  in  devising  and  executing  a  feat  of  en- 
gineering of  very  great  difficulty,  viz.,  in  cutting  a  tun- 
nel above  the  falls,  through  several  hundred  feet  of 
solid  rock,  thus  securing  an  abundant  supply  of  water 
for  numerous  manufactories  below,  which  has  re- 
mained in  constant  use  up  to  the  present  time.  This 
important  work  was  finished  in  1831.  The  tunnel  was 
cut  through  a  cliff  and  work  was  begun  at  both  ex- 
tremities. When  the  two  galleries  met  in  the  center, 
a  variation  of  less  than  two  inches  from  an  exact  line 
was  found. 

During  these  years  Mr.  Cornell  was  active  in  local 
politics,  advocating  with  great  energy  the  principles 
of  the  Whig  party.  At  the  age  of  thirty-five,  an  inter- 
ruption in  the  industrial  prosperity  of  Ithaca  threw 
Mr.  Cornell  out  of  employment,  and  his  life  now  began 
upon  a  wider  sphere.  He  purchased  the  patent  rights 
for  an  improved  plow,  and  journeyed  to  Maine  mostly 
on  foot  to  effect  its  sale,  and  later  he  made  a  tour 
through  the  Southern  States,  going  as  far  as  Georgia. 
During  this  journey  he  walked  a  distance  of  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  miles.  A  second  journey  to  Maine 
was  undertaken  in  the  year  1843.  On  his  previous  visit 
Mr.  Cornell  had  met  the  Hon.  Francis  0.  J.  Smith,  a 
Democratic  congressman  from  Maine,  the  editor  of  the 
Maine  Farmer.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  politician  of  great 
influence ;  and  though  greatly  defamed  by  political  ene- 
mies for  his  skill  and  adroitness,  a  man  of  unusual 
ability.  He  had  become  interested  in  the  electric  tele- 
graph.    This  enterprise  in  its  initial   steps  was  in- 


64      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

volved  in  great  difficulty.  Many  important  facts 
necessary  for  its  practical  use  were  as  yet  undiscov- 
ered, and  it  was  only  slowly  that  experience  called  at- 
tention to  the  necessity  of  essential  improvements, 
before  its  inventor's  dream  of  success  could  be  real- 
ized, and  the  public  share  in  the  advantages  of  this 
brilliant  invention.  It  was  supposed  that  two  wires 
were  necessary  in  order  to  form  a  complete  metallic 
circuit.  No  mode  had  then  been  devised  for  the  treat- 
ment of  India  rubber  to  make  it  available  for  the  pur- 
poses of  insulation,  and  gutta-percha  was  wholly  un- 
known as  an  article  of  use  or  commerce  in  this  country. 
It  was  not  yet  determined  how  the  wires  could  be  ex- 
tended between  cities.  It  was  thought  at  first  that  the 
wires  should  be  enclosed  in  an  underground  tube. 
Upon  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Cornell's  second  visit  to 
Portland,  he  found  Mr.  Smith  upon  the  floor  of  his 
office,  with  designs  around  him  for  the  manufacture 
of  a  plow  which  should  excavate  the  furrow  for  the 
underground  telegraph  pipe.  It  was  proposed  also  to 
design  a  second  machine  to  cover  the  pipe.  Mr.  Smith 
had  taken  the  contract  to  lay  the  pipe  at  one  hun- 
dred dollars  per  mile,  and  it  was  necess'ary  to  invent 
some  machine  capable  of  executing  his  purpose  success- 
fully. He  hailed  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Cornell  as  the  per- 
son to  solve  his  difficulties.  Mr.  Cornell,  after  examin- 
ing the  plan,  was  convinced  that  a  single  machine 
would  suffice  for  the  purpose.  He  thus  describes  the 
event :  "  I,  therefore,  with  my  pencil  sketched  a  rough 
diagram  of  a  machine  that  seemed  to  me  adapted  to 
his  necessities.  It  provided  that  the  pipe  with  the 
wires  enclosed  therein  was  to  be  coiled  around  a  drum 
or  reel,  from  whence  it  was  to  pass  over  and  through 
a  hollow  standard  protected  by  shives  directly  in  the 
rear  of  the  coulter  or  cutter,  which  was  so  arranged 
as  to  cut  a  furrow  two  and  one-half  feet  deep  and  one 


Hi 
w 

o 
>^ 

t— I 
m 
M 

2; 
o 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY;  A  HISTORY      65 

and  one-fourth  inches  wide.  Arranged  something  like 
a  plow,  it  was  to  be  drawn  by  a  powerful  team,  and  to 
deposit  the  pipe  in  the  bottom  of  the  furrow  as  it  moved 
along;  the  furrow,  being  so  narrow,  would  soon  close 
itself  and  conceal  the  pipe  from  view."  Overcoming 
his  scepticism,  Mr.  Smith  authorized  Mr.  Cornell  to 
make  the  pattern  for  the  necessary  castings,  who  also, 
in  the  meantime,  constructed  the  woodwork  for  the 
frame.  On  the  17th  of  August,  1843,  a  successful  trial 
of  Mr.  Cornell's  invention  was  made  on  Mr.  Smith's 
farm  in  Westbrook,  a  few  miles  north  of  Portland. 
' '  The  complete  success  of  my  machine,  and  the  prompt 
manner  of  making  the  invention  the  moment  that  cir- 
cumstances demanded  its  use,  inspired  Mr.  Smith  with 
great  confidence  in  my  ability  both  as  a  mechanic  and 
a  practical  man.  He  therefore  urged  me  to  go  to  Balti- 
more with  the  machine,  and  take  charge  of  laying  the 
pipe  between  that  city  and  Washington.  As  this  prop- 
osition involved  the  abandonment  of  the  business  which 
I  came  to  Maine  to  look  after,  it  was  with  some  hesi- 
tation that  I  entertained  it.  A  little  reflection,  how- 
ever, convinced  me  that  the  telegraph  was  to  become  a 
grand  enterprise,  and  this  seemed  a  particularly  ad- 
vantageous opportunity  for  me  to  identify  myself  with 
it.  Finally,  convinced  that  it  would  shortly  lead  me 
on  the  road  to  fortune,  I  acceded  to  Mr.  Smith's  ear- 
nest solicitation,  and  engaged  to  undertake  the  work 
on  condition  that  I  should  first  devote  a  little  time  to 
the  settlement  of  my  business  in  Maine."  This  was 
the  beginning  of  Mr.  Cornell 's  connection  with  the  elec- 
tric telegraph,  which  became  the  source  of  his  fortune. 
It  has  been  shown  how  incomplete  the  invention  was 
as  a  practical  achievement.  Professor  Morse  says  that 
up  to  the  autumn  of  1837,  his  telegraph  apparatus 
existed  in  so  crude  a  form  that  he  felt  a  reluctance  to 
have  it  seen;  but  on  the  6th  of  January,  1838,  he  op- 


66      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

erated  his  system  successfully  over  a  wire  three  miles 
long,  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  personal  friends, 
at  Morristown,  N.  J.  Later,  the  leading  scientists  of 
New  York,  and  the  faculty  of  the  university  as  well  as 
the  Franklin  Institute  of  Philadelphia,  recognized  its 
pre-eminent  merit.  Mr.  Morse  removed  his  apparatus 
from  Philadelphia  to  Washington,  where  he  demon- 
strated its  success  in  the  presence  of  President  Van 
Buren  and  his  cabinet,  foreign  ministers,  and  members 
of  Congress.  Congress  finally  appropriated,  at  the 
close  of  the  session  of  1843,  thirty  thousand  dollars  for 
the  erection  of  an  experimental  line  of  telegraph  be- 
tween Washington  and  Baltimore.  The  original  plan 
of  placing  the  wires  underground  proved  unsuccessful 
from  the  impossibility  of  effective  insulation.  Mr. 
Cornell  then  made  a  careful  study  of  all  the  available 
scientific  works  which  treated  of  electrical  science,  and 
finally  urged  the  adoption  of  the  method  which  had 
proved  successful  in  England  in  the  hands  of  Cooke 
and  Wheatstone — of  placing  the  wires  on  poles.  On 
May  1,  1844,  the  line  was  completed  and  in  operation 
between  Washington  and  Baltimore.  Mr.  Morse  now 
offered  to  sell  the  patent  to  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, to  be  used  in  connection  with  the  postal  service, 
for  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  post-office  de- 
partment, to  which  this  proposition  was  referred, 
reported  that  the  operation  of  the  telegraph  between 
Washington  and  Baltimore  had  not  satisfied  the  post- 
master-general, and  that  at  any  possible  rate  of  post- 
age, its  revenues  could  not  be  made  to  cover  its  ex- 
penditures. Under  the  influence  of  this  report.  Con- 
gress declined  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  patentees,  and 
the  telegraph  was  left  to  seek  development  by  the  aid 
of  private  capital. 

Mr.  Cornell  was  now  formally  enlisted  in  the  de- 
velopment of  this  invention.     He  had  short  lines  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      67 


telegraph   erected   across    streets    or   between   build- 
ings in  Boston  and  New  York,  with  the  purpose  of 
interesting   capitalists   in    the   formation   of   a    com- 
pany to  erect  a  line  between  Washington,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Boston.      Mr.   Cornell  constructed 
the    section    of    the    line    between    Fort    Lee,    oppo- 
site New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  in  the  summer  of 
1845.    His  compensation  for  superintendence  was  at 
this  time  one  thousand  dollars  per  annum.    All  the 
money  that  he  could  spare  was  now  invested  in  the 
capital  stock   of  the   Magnetic  Telegraph   Company, 
the  first  incorporated  organization  to  promote  this  new 
enterprise.     It  was  not  merely  as  a  superintendent  and 
constructor  of  telegraph  that  Mr.  Cornell's  admirable 
powers   were  displayed.     He  designed   apparatus   to 
facilitate  the  transmission  of  messages,  among  other 
things  a  relay  magnet  which  was  used  successfully  for 
a  considerable  time.     Mr.  Cornell  next  erected  a  line 
between  New  York  and  Albany,  under  contract  with 
the  New  York,  Albany,  and  Buffalo  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, which  was  completed  successfully  in  the  autumn 
of  1846.     From  this  enterprise  Mr.  Cornell  realized  a 
profit  of  SIX  thousand  dollars,  his  first  substantial  gain 
after  three  years  of  labor  in  connection  with  the  tele- 
graph.   Later,  he  also  erected  lines  from  Troy  to  Mon- 
treal, and  a  portion  of  a  line  to  Quebec.    Mr.  Cornell 
now  assumed  a  larger  responsibility  in  establishing  the 
work  of  the  telegraph  system  of  this  country.     He  or- 
ganized the  Erie  and  Michigan  Telegraph  Company  to 
provide  a  line  of  telegraph  between  Buffalo  and  Mil- 
waukee via  Cleveland,  Detroit,  and  Chicago,  and  also 
the  New  York  and  Erie  Telegraph  Company  to  connect 
Dunkirk  with  the  city  of  New  York,  passing  through 
the  southern  counties  of  the  state.     In  much  of  the 
territory  west  of  Buffalo,  telegraph  lines  were  estab- 
lished before  the  railways,  branch  lines  were  erected  to 


68      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

connect  with  the  Erie  and  Michigan  Company's  lines, 
from  Cleveland  to  Pittsburgh,  from  Cleveland  to 
Zanesville  and  Wheeling,  and  from  Cleveland  to 
Columbus  and  Cincinnati.  The  rapid  development  of 
telegraphic  communication  created  a  rivalry  between 
opposing  lines,  and  competing  offices  were  erected  in 
various  cities  for  the  transaction  of  business.  In  1855 
the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  was  organized, 
by  which  these  conflicting  interests  were  consolidated. 
This  company  embraced  at  first  the  lines  in  the  states 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  in  a  por- 
tion of  Illinois.  The  success  of  this  union  of  opposing 
interests  was  at  once  manifested.  The  profits  of  the 
enterprise  increased  rapidly,  and  the  company  em- 
ployed its  accumulating  profits  in  extending  its  system 
over  a  wider  field.  Other  lines  were  purchased,  new 
lines  were  built,  others  leased  in  perpetuity,  and  thus 
the  position  of  the  new  company  was  rendered  com- 
plete and  impregnable.  Later,  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company  assumed  the  contract  of  Mr.  Sib- 
ley, and  extended  its  lines  across  the  continent  ten 
years  in  advance  of  the  railroad. 

In  1862  Mr.  Cornell  took  his  seat  in  the  legislature 
of  the  state.  He  served  for  two  terms  as  representa- 
tive, and  for  two  terms  as  senator.  His  term  of  ser- 
vice fell,  in  part,  within  the  years  of  the  Civil  War, 
when  it  was  necessary  to  sustain  the  Federal  govern- 
ment with  every  influence  which  its  most  powerful  state 
could  afford.  In  all  the  questions  to  which  the  war 
gave  rise,  Mr.  Cornell  supported  earnestly  the  national 
cause.  During  his  residence  in  Albany  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  in  the  Senate, 
and  also  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance.  He 
was  an  uncompromising  advocate  of  sustaining  the 
credit  of  the  state  by  pajrment  of  the  principal  and 
interest  of  the  public  debt  in  specie,  in  accordance 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      69 

with  the  true  spirit  under  which  the  obligation  was 
incurred.  He  also  advocated  the  creation  of  sink- 
ing funds  for  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  debts  of 
the  state.  These  wise  measures  have  practically  extin- 
guished the  entire  indebtedness  of  the  state.  We  find 
him  active  in  the  labor  of  the  committees  of  which  he 
was  a  member.  Although  not  an  orator,  his  remarks 
were  terse  and  convincing.  His  name  is  associated 
with  numerous  measures  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture, 
finance,  and  education.  His  services  in  the  legisla- 
ture were  recognized  by  his  constituents  by  a  unani- 
mous renomination  for  senator.  When  he  retired,  it 
was  at  his  personal  wish,  in  order  to  devote  himself  to 
the  interests  of  the  university  which  he  had  founded. 
All  Mr.  Cornell's  acts  expressed  his  strong  individ- 
uality. Definiteness  characterized  all  his  opinions, 
and  views,  once  adopted,  were  sustained  with  tenacity 
in  the  face  of  all  opposition.  All  idealists  are  perhaps 
visionary,  and  the  erection  of  the  university  which 
bears  his  name  was  a  noble  ideal  which  Mr.  Cornell  set 
before  him  as  the  crown  of  his  life.  Visionary  he  may 
have  been  in  other  things,  but  a  humane  purpose  under- 
lay all.  A  grim  humor  lent  often  a  sardonic  touch  to 
his  conversation,  and  often  relieved  the  stress  of  severe 
details,  as  is  shown  in  his  letter  to  President  White, 
whose  chirography  was  often  the  despair  of  his  best 
friends.  He  wrote:  "  I  hope  you  will  write  often,  in 
case  I  can  read  what  you  write.  You  know  I  have 
no  time  to  waste."  In  a  letter  to  a  parent  respecting 
a  delinquent  son  who  had  fallen  down  a  trapdoor  in 
an  unused  university  room  while  engaged  in  some  es- 
capade, Mr.  Cornell  wrote:  "  In  the  event  of  liis 
return  we  will  do  the  best  we  can  for  his  improvement, 
but  we  cannot  be  responsible  if,  in  bursting  in  and 
breaking  down  our  doors,  he  should  break  another  leg 
or  neck."     Mr.  Cornell  was  universally  appealed  to 


70      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

by  the  great  world  without  as  if  responsible  for  every 
detail  of  administration.  His  care  and  oversight 
of  everything  that  concerned  his  beloved  university 
were  minute.  To  promote  its  interests  he  was  led 
to  withdraw  his  capital  from  the  telegraph  in  which 
it  was  rapidly  increasing,  and  where  its  security 
seemed  unassailable,  in  order  to  promote  the  erec- 
tion of  railways  through  his  native  city.  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's letter-books  show  the  enormous  labor  to  which 
he  subjected  himself,  the  minute  and  patient  detail 
with  which  he  answered  inquiries  and  attended  to 
every  question  of  the  administration  of  the  university 
lands.  He  was  unable  to  relinquish  minor  matters 
to  others,  and  the  new  and  untried  responsibilities 
which  he  had  assumed  in  connection  with  the  railways 
were  beyond  his  powers  of  immediate  direction.  In 
these  vast  undertakings,  to  which  he  was  impelled  by  a 
desire  to  benefit  his  native  place  as  well  as  to  build  up 
the  university,  his  large  fortune  was  impaired.  Pros- 
perous times  could  not  probably  then  have  secured  the 
success  of  his  venture ;  but  in  the  paralysis  of  all  busi- 
ness in  the  crisis  of  1873,  it  is  not  strange  that  his  en- 
terprises yielded  to  inevitable  laws  upon  which  all 
industrial  prosperity  depends.  The  blow  of  impend- 
ing loss  was  met  by  Mr.  Cornell  silently,  heroically,  but 
with  unfaltering  resolution.  The  vigor  and  courage 
which  had  won  his  great  fortune  made  his  spirit  still 
hopeful,  almost  triumphant,  amid  financial  loss. 

In  June,  1874,  Mr.  Cornell  was  suddenly  incapaci- 
tated from  attention  to  business  by  serious  illness, 
which  he  had  contracted  by  unconscious  exposure  while 
traveling.  From  this  illness  he  never  recovered. 
Pneumonia  passed  into  a  settled  affection  of  the  lungs, 
and  all  hope  was  at  an  end.  During  his  last  months  of 
weakness,  mindful  of  the  university  which  lay  so  near 
his  heart,  he  transferred  to  it  all  his  interests  in  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      71 


national  lands  wliich  he  had  purchased,  and  thus 
secured  its  permanence.  During  his  sickness  he 
longed  to  recover;  he  could  not  bear  the  thought  of 
defeat,  and  he  wished  to  earn,  as  he  said,  a  half-million 
dollars  more  for  the  university.  The  enormous  task 
of  administering  the  estate  of  the  university,  which 
he  had  assumed,  and  the  terrible  burdens  associated 
with  the  three  railway  enterprises  in  which  he  was 
engaged,  added  a  crushing  weight  to  the  suffering  of 
his  last  months.  Even  upon  the  morning  of  the  9th  of 
December,  1874,  he  rose  with  the  wonderful  energy  in- 
herent in  his  nature,  and  was  dressed,  and  devoted 
himself  during  the  hours  of  the  morning  to  business. 
At  last,  overcome  by  weakness,  he  sought  his  couch, 
and  soon  after  noon  his  work  was  over. 

Although  Mr.  Cornell  was  by  nature  reserved,  and 
there  was  an  element  of  sternness  in  his  exterior,  only 
those  who  were  intimate  with  him  knew  the  warmth 
of  personal  affection  which  burned  in  his  heart.  His 
devotion  to  his  family — his  longing,  when  absent,  for 
the  sight  of  his  little  girls,  and  his  remembrance  of 
every  member — found  constant  expression  in  his  let- 
ters. His  integrity  and  loyalty  in  the  support  of 
everything  that  he  believed  right,  all  knew;  but  the 
warmth  of  feeling  in  his  nature  was  known  only  to  his 
most  intimate  friends. 

The  news  of  his  death  called  out  an  expression  of 
popular  sorrow  in  the  community  in  which  he  lived, 
such  as  is  but  rarely  awakened ;  and  neighboring  cities 
held  meetings  to  pass  resolutions  of  respect  for  his 
memory.  The  funeral  pageant  associated  with  the 
death  of  this  simple  citizen  was  a  universal  tribute  to 
his  character  and  work.  The  university  and  the  build- 
ings of  the  city  were  draped  with  mourning  emblems. 
A  guard  of  honor  of  student  cadets  marched  beside  the 
hearse.    The  faculty  and  trustees,  scientific  men,  repre- 


72       CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

sentatives  of  other  universities,  delegates  from  many 
cities,  and  his  fellow-citizens  whom  he  loved,  consti- 
tuted his  escort.  He  rests  in  a  Memorial  Chapel 
erected  in  the  center  of  the  university,  which  will  be 
his  truest  monument.  Here  it  was  his  wish  that  he 
should  rest. 

The  following  memorial  poem  was  written  by  Mr. 
Cornell's  friend  and  legal  adviser,  the  Hon.  Francis 
M.  Finch: 

FOUNDER'S  HYMN. 

The  "  Chimes  "  are  stiU.    Alone, 

As  falls  the  Year's  last  leaf, 
The  great  bell's  monotone 

Slow  hymns  our  helpless  grief. 
Bountiful  heart! — bountiful  hand! 

Bountiful  heart  and  bountiful  hand! 
0  Father  and  Founder ! — O  Soul  so  grand ! 
Farewell,  Cornell! — Farewell! 

From  Slander's  driving  sleet, 

From  Envy's  pitiless  rain, 
At  rest,  the  aching  feet ! — 
At  rest,  the  weary  brain ! 
Laboring  heart! — laboring  hand! 

Laboring  heart  and  hand ! 
O  Father  and  Founder ! — O  Soul  so  grand! 
Farewell,  Cornell ! — Farewell ! 

So  calm,  and  grave,  and  still, 

Men  thought  his  silence  pride; 
Nor  guessed  the  truth,  until 
Death  told  it — as  he  died. 
Lowly  of  heart ! — lowly  of  hand ! 

Lowly  of  heart  and  hand ! 
O  Father  and  Founder ! — 0  Soul  so  grand ! 
Farewell,  Cornell! — Farewell! 

"  True,"  as  the  steel  to  star; 

With  eye  whose  lifted  lid 
Let  in  all  Truth — though  far 

In  clouds  and  darkness  hid. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       73 

Confident  heart ! — confident  hand ! 

Confident  heart  and  hand ! 
O  Father  and  Founder !— O  Soul  so  grand ! 

Farewell,  Cornell !— Farewell ! 

"  Firm,"  as  the  oak's  tough  grain, 

Yet  pliant  to  the  prayer 
Of  Poverty,  or  Pain, 
As  leaf  to  troubled  air. 
Kindliest  heart! — kindliest  hand! 

Kindliest  heart  and  hand! 
O  Father  and  Founder!— O  Soul  so  grand  I 
Farewell,  Cornell !— Farewell ! 

Untaught — and  yet  he  drew 

Best  learning  out  of  life, 
More  than  the  Scholars  knew, 
With  all  their  toil  and  strife. 
Conquering  heart ! — conquering  hand ! 

Conquering  heart  and  hand ! 
O  Father  and  Founder !— O  Soul  so  grand! 
Farewell,  Cornell !— Farewell ! 

The  spires  that  crown  the  hill, 

To  plainest  labor  free. 
Where  all  may  win  who  will, — 
His  monument  shall  be ! 
Generous  heart! — generous  hand! 

Generous  heart  and  hand ! 
O  Father  and  Founder!— O  Soul  so  grand! 
Farewell,  Cornell !— Farewell ! 

Brave,  kindly  heart,  adieu ! 

But  with  us  live  alway 
The  patient  face  we  knew, 
And  this  memorial  day. 
Bountiful  heart !— bountiful  hand ! 

Bountiful  heart  and  hand ! 
O  Father  and  Founder!— O  Soul  so  grand! 
Farewell,  Cornell !— Farewell ! 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    CHARTER    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY 

IT  is  interesting  to  inquire  what  were  the  causes 
which  led  Mr.  Cornell  to  devote  so  large  a  part 
of  his  unexpected  and  constantly  increasing 
wealth  to  the  founding  of  a  university.  He  had 
always  been  thoughtful  upon  questions  affecting  the 
interests  of  the  people.  Originally  a  farmer's  son, 
and  later  a  mechanic,  and  brought  into  association 
with  scientific  men  through  the  practical  applicd,tion  of 
the  telegraph,  he  saw  the  great  need  of  thoroughly 
trained  and  practical  scientists.  He  realized  that  in- 
dividual and  national  wealth  would  be  promoted  even 
by  an  imperfect  popular  knowledge  of  the  sciences 
which  relate  to  life,  and  also  the  incalculable  loss  to 
individuals  and  the  nation  from  unsystematic,  unscien- 
tific, and  prodigal  methods. 

It  is  probable  that  his  purpose  to  devote  his  wealth 
to  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men  was  formed  slowly  in 
his  mind.  The  unexpected  increase  in  his  fortune, 
beyond  his  hopes,  suggested  to  him  the  possibility  of 
using  some  portion  of  it  for  the  public  good.  Beyond 
the  natural  desire  to  provide  for  his  family,  Mr.  Cor- 
nell had  no  personal  ambition  for  vast  accumulation. 
In  private  life  he  was  genuinely  and  unostentatiously 
generous.  The  desire  that  his  gifts  should  assume  a 
permanent  form,  blessing  the  future  as  well  as  the 
present,  assumed  shape  silently  and  unspoken,  like  so 
many  of  his  plans.  In  the  summer  of  1863  he  was 
seriously  ill  for  several  months.  As  he  recovered  he 
said  to  his  physician,  "  When  I  am  able  to  go  out,  I 

74, 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      75 

want  you  to  bring  your  carriage  and  take  me  upon  the 
hill.  Since  I  have  been  upon  this  sick  bed,  I  have  real- 
ized, as  never  before,  by  what  a  feeble  tenure  man  holds 
on  to  life.  I  have  accumulated  money,  and  I  am  going 
to  spend  it  while  I  live."  They  drove  subsequently  to 
the  hill,  which  constitutes  the  present  site  of  the  uni- 
versity, to  what  was  then  Mr.  Cornell's  farm.  He 
spoke  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  of  his  determina- 
tion to  build  an  institution  for  poor  young  men;  he 
wished  an  institution  different  from  the  ordinary  col- 
lege, where  poor  boys  could  acquire  an  education.  He 
did  not  desire  an  entrance  examination,  but  that  they 
should  study  whatever  they  were  inclined  to.  Mr.  Cor- 
nell described  the  buildings  which  should  crown  the 
hillside,  and  pointed  out  where  they  should  stand.^  Mr. 
Cornell 's  immediate  attention  was  then  engrossed  with 
the  foundation  of  the  Cornell  Library,  which  was  char- 
tered a  few  months  later,  and  presented  to  the  city  of 
his  residence. 

It  is  probable  that,  even  with  this  noble  intention, 
much  was  still  vague  in  his  mind  as  to  the  exact  form 
which  the  institution  should  assume.  He  contem- 
plated, undoubtedly,  some  form  of  industrial  school. 
The  immediate  occasion  which  gave  definiteness  to  his 
purpose  was,  as  he  himself  stated  in  answer  to  the 
inquiry,  whether  he  had  purposed  for  many  years  to 
found  a  great  university,  or  whether  the  plan  had  been 
presented  to  him  by  some  fortuitous  circumstance,  that 
very  much  was  due  to  his  election  as  one  of  the  trustees 
of  the  State  Agricultural  College  at  Ovid,  and  to  the 
discovery  which  he  had  made  at  two  meetings  of  the 
trustees  of  that  institution,  of  the  great  need  of  some 

•  Mr.  Cornell  visited  this  site  with  different  groups  of  friends  and  spoke 
enthusiastically  of  the  view  and  of  the  splendid  future  of  his  university. 
Personal  statements  from  his  associates  differ  in  detail  and  are  evidently 
based  on  varying  incidents. 


76      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

suitable  provision  in  our  own  country  for  the  education 
of  young  men  in  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts. 

Mr.  Cornell  had  been  for  several  years  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  State  Agricultural  Society.  In  1862  he  was 
its  president,  and  in  that  capacity  attended  the  great 
International  Exposition  in  London  as  the  official  rep- 
resentative of  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  So- 
ciety. He  traveled  extensively  and  studied  carefully 
the  agriculture  of  the  different  parts  of  England,  Scot- 
land, Wales,  and  Ireland.  He  also  studied  with  in- 
terest the  methods  of  the  famous  school  of  agricultural 
science  connected  with  the  establishment  of  Lawes  and 
Gilbert  at  Rothamstead.  Upon  his  return,  an  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself  to  him  to  do  for  his  native  coun- 
try what  he  had  seen  so  successfully  instituted  abroad. 
The  work  of  the  State  Agricultural  College  in  Ovid 
had  ceased  with  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War,  after 
less  than  a  half-year's  existence,  and  instruction  had 
not  been  resumed.  The  college  had  enthusiastic 
friends,  among  whom  were  many  of  the  most  advanced 
agriculturists  of  the  state.  Its  governing  board  was, 
however,  composed  of  men  with  little  experience  as 
educators  and  unfitted  to  carry  out  the  great  schemes 
which  they  had  at  heart.  The  funds  of  the  college  had 
been  largely  consumed  in  the  purchase  of  a  beautiful 
site  of  six  hundred  and  twenty-seven  acres  of  land 
overlooking  Seneca  Lake.  Other  funds,  subscribed  by 
the  farmers  of  the  vicinity  under  the  lead  of  Principal 
Brown,  had  been  wasted  by  unskilful  management  in 
the  erection  of  a  costly  building  left  incomplete  and  un- 
equipped for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  erected; 
and  a  mortgage  of  $40,000  upon  the  property  was  held 
by  the  state.  Under  these  circumstances  the  trustees, 
under  the  presidency  of  Governor  King,  met  in  Roches- 
ter, September  20,  1864,  to  hear  the  report  of  the 
finance   committee.      The   war   still   continued.      The 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      77 


prospects  for  the  future  of  the  college  were  depress- 
ing; the  outlook  for  the  future  was  apparently  hope- 
less; the  college  was  in  effect  bankrupt.  Mr.  Cornell 
listened  silently  to  the  discussion  of  the  various  plans 
of  relief  which  were  proposed.  He  then  rose  and  read 
the  following  proposition : 

*'  I  have  listened  patiently  to  this  discussion,  which 
has  so  fully  developed  the  present  helpless  situation 
of  the  college  and  shown  so  little  encouragement  in  its 
future  prosperity,  until  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  trustees  would  be  justifiable  in  changing  the 
location  of  the  college,  if  it  can  be  done  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  citizens  of  Ovid,  and  an  adequate  endow- 
ment thereby  secured  for  the  college  in  some  other 
proper  locality.     Therefore, 

^ '  I  submit  for  your  consideration  the  following  prop- 
osition. If  you  will  locate  the  college  at  Ithaca,  I  will 
give  you  for  that  object  a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres 
of  first  quality  of  land,  desirably  located,  overlooking 
the  village  of  Ithaca  and  Cayuga  Lake,  and  within 
ten  minutes '  walk  of  the  Cornell  Library,  the  churches, 
the  railroad  station,  and  steamboat  landing.  I  will 
also  erect  on  the  farm  suitable  buildings  for  the  use  of 
the  college,  and  give  an  additional  sum  of  money  to 
make  up  in  the  aggregate  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  on  condition  that  the  legislature  will  endow 
the  college  with  at  least  thirty  thousand  dollars  per 
annum  from  the  Congressional  Agricultural  College 
Fund,  and  thus  place  the  college  upon  a  firm  and  sub- 
stantial basis,  which  shall  be  a  guarantee  of  its  future 
prosperity  and  usefulness,  and  give  the  farmers'  sons 
of  New  York  an  institution  worthy  of  the  Empire 
State." 

This  munificent  offer  was  accepted  with  enthusiasm. 
Another  session  was  called  to  meet  in  Albany,  at  which 
it  was   proposed  to   invite   for   consultation  various 


78      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

friends  of  education  who  were  not  trustees.  At  this 
meeting,  January  12,  1865,  the  sentiment  among  the 
intelligent  friends  of  education  was  strongly  devel- 
oped in  favor  of  retaining  the  national  grant  intact, 
and  not  to  dissipate  or  divert  it  by  distribution  among 
the  various  small  colleges. 

The  Hon.  Victor  Rice,  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction, in  his  report  presented  to  the  legislature, 
January  1,  1863,  had  announced  the  passage  by  Con- 
gress of  the  act  donating  land  to  private  colleges  for  the 
benefit  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  He  then 
added,  that  he  was  persuaded  that  true  economy  and 
practical  wisdom  required  that  this  fund  should  go  to 
the  endowment  and  support  of  one  institution.  '^  If 
an  attempt  shall  be  made  to  endow  two  or  more  col- 
leges, the  whole  income  may  be  comparatively  useless. 
The  division  of  it  into  two  parts  would  be  made  the 
entering  wedge  for  applications  for  another  and  an- 
other division,  until  the  whole  will  be  so  divided  among 
many,  that  not  any  one  will  be  complete  in  its  facilities 
for  instruction.  The  state  has  at  various  times  made 
grants  of  land  and  money  to  colleges  and  academies 
until  the  aggregate  sum  amounts  to  millions.  In  nu- 
merous instances  the  chief  result  of  its  bounty  has  been 
to  enable  many  of  these  institutions  to  prolong  a  pre- 
carious existence,  too  weak  to  be  of  real  public  utility. ' ' 
After  speaking  of  the  demand  for  a  more  learned  class 
of  intellectual  readers,  who,  furnished  with  the  means 
and  leisure  necessary  to  the  prosecution  of  philosophi- 
cal investigation,  may  be  induced  to  pursue  science  it- 
self, irrespective  of  the  immediate  practical  benefit,  he 
said:  *'  We  need  only  direct  our  attention  to  the  uni- 
versities of  Europe  to  show  the  advantages  of  the  plan 
which  there  furnishes  such  numerous  patterns  of  ripe 
scholarship  and  so  many  examples  of  successful  re- 
search  in    enlarging   the    boundaries    of   knowledge. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      79 

What  we  need  most  emphatically,  therefore,  is  the 
establishment  of  one  institution  adequately  endowed, 
offering  ample  inducements  to  learned  men  to  become 
its  inmates,  and  supplied  with  every  attainable  facility 
for  instruction  in  the  highest  departments  of  literary 
and  philosophical  learning,  as  well  as  in  the  various 
branches  of  knowledge  pertaining  to  the  industrial  and 
professional  pursuits.  Its  corps  of  teachers  should  be 
composed  of  men  of  vigorous  mental  endowments  and 
the  best  culture,  and  in  numbers  sufficient  to  allow  a 
complete  division  of  labor.  When  thus  appointed,  the 
doors  of  the  institution  should  be  opened  to  all  who 
are  prepared  to  enter.  It  should  be  free,  so  that  lads 
born  in  poverty  and  obscurity  who  may  have  shown 
themselves  to  be  meritorious  in  the  primary  schools 
shall  not  be  excluded.  .  .  .  Let  study  and  manual 
labor  go  hand  in  hand  and  then  learning  will  dignify 
labor  and  labor  will  utilize  learning. ' ' 

Governor  John  A.  Andrew  of  Massachusetts,  in  an 
eloquent  address  to  the  legislature,  in  January,  1863, 
favored  the  same  views. 

In  looking  back,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  what 
considerations  influenced  the  legislature  in  bestowing 
the  national  grant  upon  the  People's  College,  which 
occurred  May  14,  1863.  Persistent  agitation  and  a 
skilful  lobby  seem  to  have  blinded  the  legislators  to 
the  flimsy  character  of  the  promises  held  out  by  the 
advocates  of  the  college,  which  even  induced  senators 
and  representatives  who  were  later  of  national  reputa- 
tion, among  them  Chief-Justice  Folger,  afterwards 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  the  noble  chancellor  of 
the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Mr.  Pruyn, 
to  support  this  measure.  On  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
fluential class  interested  in  promoting  agriculture  and 
applied  science,  upon  which  the  wealth  of  all  other 
classes  so  largely  depends,  earnestly  opposed  this  ap- 


80      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

propriation  of  the  land  grant  fund.  Remonstrances 
and  memorials  from  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
and  from  numerous  societies  protested  against  this 
disposal  of  the  fund,  but  in  vain.  Among  the  promi- 
nent sympathizers  with  the  latter  view  was  Mr.  Cor- 
nell, who  introduced  a  bill  to  divide  the  fund  between 
the  two  institutions.  Here  a  difficulty  arose.  The  act 
of  the  legislature  bestowing  the  land  grant  upon  the 
People's  College  allowed  three  years  in  which  to  fulfill 
the  conditions  imposed  by  the  law — that  is,  a  com- 
pliance with  that  law  before  May  14,  1866,  was  not  re- 
quired. The  efforts  to  repeal  the  grant  or  to  modify 
its  provisions  arose  in  the  session  of  the  legislature 
which  assembled  in  January,  1864,  in  which  Mr.  An- 
drew D.  White  first  took  his  seat  as  senator.  His 
views  were  opposed  to  those  of  Mr.  Cornell.  He  in- 
sisted that  the  fund  ought  to  be  kept  together  at  some 
one  institution ;  that  on  no  account  should  it  be  divided ; 
that  the  endowment  for  higher  education  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  which  had  already  suffered  sufficiently  from 
scattering  its  resources,  should  be  concentrated.  Mr. 
Cornell  desired  to  have  his  bill  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Agriculture,  of  which  he  was  chairman,  and 
from  which  a  report  favorable  to  his  own  views  might 
be  expected.  Mr.  White  desired  its  reference  to  the 
Committee  on  Literature,  of  which  he  was  chairman, 
and  it  was  finally  referred  to  a  joint  session  of  the  two 
committees.  Mr.  White  states:  "  On  this  double- 
headed  committee  I  deliberately  thwarted  his  purpose 
throughout  the  entire  session,  delaying  action  and  pre- 
venting any  report  upon  his  bill,  at  the  same  time 
urging  Mr.  Cornell  to  adopt  a  view  favorable  to  the 
concentration  of  the  fund  in  one  institution." 

Danger  of  the  failure  of  the  national  land  grant  was 
not  at  this  time  to  be  feared,  as  the  original  act  allowed 
five  years,  within  which  any  state  could  provide  one 


FALL    CEEEK    RAVINE    IN    WINTER 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      81 

college  for  instruction  in  agriculture,  which  New  York 
had  already  done. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  State 
Agricultural  College,  held  in  Albany,  January  12, 1865, 
Mr.  Cornell  offered  to  increase  his  gift  to  $500,000, 
provided   the  legislature   would   transfer   the   public 
lands  donated  by  the  general  government  to  the  insti- 
tution that  he  proposed  to  found,  which  was  to  be  or- 
ganized and  located  in  Ithaca.    A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  correspond  with  gentlemen  connected  with 
the  management  of  the  People's   College,  and  with 
other  persons  prominent  in  the  educational  interests 
of  this  state,  and  to  invite  them  to  meet  the  gentlemen 
connected  with  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, to  take  into  consideration  and  jointly  act  on  the 
proffer  of  $500,000  for  educational  purposes  by  the 
Hon.  Ezra  Cornell.     Mr.  Andrew  D.  White,  Mr.  Will- 
iam Kelly,  and  Mr.  B.  P.  Johnson  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  arrange  for  a  conference  to  be  held  at  the 
State  Agricultural  Rooms  in  Albany,  January  24, 1865. 
Mr.  Cornell  had  been  a  member  of  the  Assembly 
from  1862  to  1864;  from  1864  to  1868  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Senate,  and  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  made  his 
proposal  to  endow  a  new  institution  in  Ithaca.    At  this 
time  Mr.  Cornell  came  into  intimate  personal  relations 
with  Mr.  Andrew  D.  White,  who  entered  the  legislature 
as    senator   from    Onondaga    County    in    1864.     Mr. 
White's  earnest  and  aggressive  nature,  as  well  as  his 
warm  enthusiasm  for  education,  made  him  active  in 
all  questions  affecting  the  educational  policy  of  the 
state.     He  was  made  chairman  of  the  Senate  Commit- 
tee on  Literature,  and  naturally  occupied  an  influential 
position  in  the  questions  which  arose  in  connection 
with  the  foundation  of  the  new  university.     Mr.  Rice, 
whose  views  of  the  wisdom  of  preserving  the  land 
grant  undivided  were  known,  was  still  Superintendent 


82      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

of  Public  Instruction,  and  Mr.  White  vigorously  repre- 
sented these  views.  Mr.  Cornell  adhered  strenuously  to 
his  original  proposal.  His  views  were  opposed,  as  has 
been  stated,  by  Mr.  White  and  by  the  Department  of 
Education.  In  a  letter  written  several  years  later  to 
the  chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri, Mr.  Cornell  nobly  admitted  that  the  wiser  view, 
in  education,  required  the  concentration  of  all  funds 
bestowed  by  the  national  government  in  a  single  insti- 
tution, and  ascribed  pre-eminently  to  Mr.  White  the 
credit  of  influencing  him  to  adopt  the  same  posi- 
tion. 

In  pursuance  of  the  plan  of  securing  the  national 
grant  for  the  proposed  college,  Mr.  White  introduced 
a  resolution  in  the  Senate,  February  4,  requesting  the 
Board  of  Regents  to  communicate  to  it  any  informa- 
tion in  its  possession  in  regard  to  the  People's  Col- 
lege in  Havana,  and  to  state  whether  in  their  opinion 
said  college  is,  within  the  time  specified,  likely  to  be 
in  a  condition  to  avail  itself  of  the  fund  granted  to  this 
state  by  the  act  of  Congress.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed on  February  6  to  visit  the  People's  College 
and  to  determine  whether  its  present  condition,  or  the 
measures  already  undertaken,  were  likely  to  prove 
adequate  to  secure  compliance  with  the  act  of  the  legis- 
lature. The  committee,  after  visiting  Havana  and  ex- 
amining the  authorities  of  the  People's  College,  re- 
ported that  the  building  was  of  substantial  and  excel- 
lent character  and  well  calculated  for  the  purposes  for 
which  it  had  been  erected ;  that  it  contained  ample  room 
for  the  accommodation  of  150  students,  with  the  num- 
ber of  professors  and  teachers  required  by  the  act  of 
1863,  but  that  it  was  not  sufficient  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  250  students,  and  that  up  to  the  present  time 
it  had  not  complied  with  the  conditions  of  the  act.  It 
appeared  from  the  testimony  that  at  that  time  no 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      83 

library  had  been  purchased  by  the  college,  that  it  pos- 
sessed no  philosophical  or  chemical  apparatus,   and 
that  it  was  not  yet  provided  with  shops,  tools,  machin- 
ery, or  other  arrangements  for  teaching  the  mechanic 
arts,  or  with  farm  buildings,   implements,   or  stock. 
The  amount  which  had  been  expended  upon  the  college 
was  at  that  time  $70,235 ;  of  this  sum  $56,095  had  been 
contributed  by  Mr.  Charles  Cook,  and  $14,140  by  others. 
It  also  appeared  that  the  Hon.  Charles  Cook  had  paid 
out  of  his  own  funds  the  sum  of  $31,700  (in  addition 
to  his  subscription  of  $25,000)  for  the  erection  of  the 
People's  College,  and  had  donated  to  it  sixty-two  acres 
of  land.     This  sum  of  $31,700  had  been  expended  in 
the  erection  of  the  college  edifice,  in  return  for  which 
the  trustees  of  the  People's  College  agreed  that,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  conveyance  to  the  college  of  a  fee 
simple  of  the  college  edifice  and  sixty-two  acres  of  land, 
this  grant  should  always  be  held  inviolate  for  the  pur- 
poses  of  the  college,   and  that  in  case  the  trustees 
should  fail  to  maintain  the  college,  this  property  should 
revert  to  Mr.  Cook  or  his  heirs. 

In  the  meantime,  action  looking  toward  the  estab- 
lishment of  Cornell  University  was  carried  on  in  the 
legislature.  On  February  3  Mr.  White  gave  notice 
that  at  an  early  day  he  would  ask  leave  to  introduce  a 
bill  to  establish  the  Cornell  University  and  to  appro- 
priate to  it  the  income  from  the  sale  of  public  lands, 
granted  to  this  state  by  Congress  on  the  2d  of  July, 
1862.  This  bill  was  formally  introduced  on  February  7 
and  referred  to  the  committees  on  Literature  and 
Agriculture.  Mr.  White,  in  his  Reminiscences  of  Ezra 
Cornell,  thus  describes  the  origin  of  the  charter : 

''  We  held  frequent  conferences  as  to  the  leading 
features  of  the  institution  to  be  created ;  in  these  I  was 
more  and  more  impressed  by  his  sagacity  and  largeness 
of  view,  and  when  our  sketch  of  the  bill  was  fully  de- 


84      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

veloped,  it  was  put  into  shape  by  Charles  J.  Folger  of 
Geneva,  then  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of 
the  Senate,  afterwards  Chief  Judge  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals.  The  provision  forbidding  any  sectarian 
or  partisan  predominance  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  or 
faculty  was  proposed  by  me,  heartily  acquiesced  in  by 
Mr.  Cornell,  and  put  into  shape  by  Judge  Folger.  The 
state-scholarship  feature  and  the  system  of  alumni 
representation  ^  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  also 
accepted  by  Mr.  Cornell  at  my  suggestion. 

' '  I  refer  to  these  things  especially  because  they  show 
one  striking  characteristic  of  the  man,  namely,  his 
willingness  to  give  the  largest  measure  of  confidence 
when  he  gave  any  confidence  at  all,  and  his  readiness 
to  be  advised  largely  by  others  in  matters  which  he  felt 
to  be  outside  his  own  province. 

' '  On  the  other  hand,  the  whole  provision  for  the  en- 
dowment, the  part  relating  to  the  land  grant,  and, 
above  all,  the  supplementary  bill  allowing  him  to  make 
a  contract  with  the  state  for  '  locating  '  the  lands, 
were  thought  out  entirely  by  himself ;  and  in  all  these 
matters  he  showed,  not  only  a  public  spirit  far  beyond 
that  displayed  by  any  other  benefactor  of  education  in 
his  time,  but  a  foresight  which  seemed  to  me  then,  and 
seems  to  me  now,  almost  miraculous. 

' '  But,  while  he  thus  left  the  general  educational  fea- 
tures to  me,  he  uttered,  during  one  of  our  conversa- 
tions, words  which  showed  that  he  comprehended  the 
true  theory  of  a  university:  these  words  are  now  en- 
graved upon  the  Cornell  University  seal :  '  I  would 
found  an  institution  where  any  person  can  find  instruc- 
tion in  any  study.'  " 

Mr.  White,  on  behalf  of  these  committees,  reported 
favorably  on  February  25  an  amended  act  to  establish 

'  The  provision  for  alumni  representation  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  was 
first  made  in  the  amended  charter,  passed  April  24,  1867. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      85 

Cornell  University.  After  being  considered  in  the 
committee  of  the  whole,  the  bill  received  a  second 
reference  to  the  committees  on  the  Judiciary  and  Lit- 
erature. This  bill  was  favorably  reported  with  amend- 
ments, March  15,  and  passed.  The  reopening  of  the 
question  of  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands  brought 
representatives  of  various  colleges  to  Albany  to  urge 
the  claims  of  their  institutions.  Various  efforts  were 
made  to  divide  the  fund  by  providing  for  the  establish- 
ment of  professors  of  agriculture  in  several  institu- 
tions. In  one  case  the  effort  to  secure  a  portion  of  the 
appropriation  was  so  strong  that  in  order  to  defeat  the 
lobby  which  was  working  in  its  behalf,  Mr.  Cornell 
consented  to  incorporate  a  provision,  by  which  he  bound 
himself  to  pay  to  the  Genesee  College  in  Lima  $25,000 
for  the  support  of  a  professorship,  which  should  fur- 
nish the  instruction  in  agriculture  required  by  the 
act  of  Congress.  This,  however,  removed  only  one 
competitor  from  the  field.  The  interests  which  had 
been  represented  by  the  State  Agricultural  College  had 
been  harmonized,  but  the  friends  of  the  People's  Col- 
lege, under  the  powerful  leadership  of  Mr.  Cook,  were 
alert  and  vigorous.  Mr,  White  gives  the  following 
graphic  account  of  the  legislative  struggle  for  a  char- 
ter in  the  Assembly : 

*^  The  coalition  of  forces  against  the  Cornell  Uni- 
versity bill  soon  became  very  formidable,  and  the  com- 
mittee on  education  in  the  Assembly,  to  which  the  bill 
had  been  referred,  seemed  more  and  more  controlled 
by  it.  To  meet  this  difficulty,  we  resorted  to  means  in- 
tended to  enlighten  the  great  body  of  the  senators  and 
assembljmien  as  to  the  purposes  of  the  bill.  To  this 
end,  Mr.  Cornell  invited  the  members,  sometimes  to  his 
rooms  at  Congress  Hall,  sometimes  to  mine  at  the 
Delavan  House ;  there  he  laid  before  them  his  general 
proposal  and  the  financial  side  of  the  plan,  while  I 


86      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

dwelt  upon  the  need  of  a  university  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word, — upon  the  opportunity  offered  by  this 
great  fund, — upon  the  necessity  of  keeping  it  together, 
— upon  the  need  of  large  means  to  carry  out  any 
scheme  of  technical  and  general  education  such  as 
was  contemplated  by  the  congressional  act  of  1862,— 
showed  the  proofs  that  the  People's  College  would  and 
could  do  nothing  to  meet  this  want, — that  division  of 
the  fund  among  the  existing  colleges  was  simply  the 
annihilation  of  it, — and,  in  general,  did  my  best  to  en- 
lighten the  reason  and  arouse  the  patriotism  of  the 
members  on  the  subject  of  a  worthy  university  in  our 
state.  In  this  way  we  made  several  strong  friends  in 
both  Houses. 

''  While  we  were  thus  laboring  with  the  legislature 
as  a  whole,  serious  work  had  to  be  done  with  the  As- 
sembly committee,  and  Mr.  Cornell  employed  a  very 
eminent  lawyer  to  present  his  case,  while  Mr.  Cook 
employed  one  no  less  noted  to  take  the  opposite  side. 
The  session  of  the  committee  was  held  in  the  Assembly 
chamber,  and  there  was  a  large  attendance  of  spec- 
tators ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  lawyer  employed  by  Mr. 
Cornell  having  taken  little  pains  with  the  case,  his 
speech  was  cold,  labored,  perfunctory,  and  fell  flat. 
The  speech  on  the  other  side  was  much  more  effective ; 
it  was  thin  and  demagogical  in  the  extreme,  but  the 
speaker  knew  well  the  best  tricks  for  catching  the 
'  average  man  ' ;  he  indulged  in  eloquent  tirades 
against  the  Cornell  bill  as  a  '  monopoly,'  denounced 
Mr.  Cornell  roundly  as  '  seeking  to  erect  a  monument 
to  himself  ' ;  hinted  that  he  was  '  planning  to  rob  the 
state,'  and,  before  he  had  finished,  had  pictured  Mr. 
Cornell  as  a  swindler,  and  the  rest  of  us  as  dupes  or 
knaves. 

' '  I  can  never  forget  the  quiet  dignity  with  which  Mr. 
Cornell  sat  and  took  this  abuse.     Mrs.  Cornell  sat  at 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       87 

liis  right,  I  at  his  left.  In  one  of  the  worst  tirades 
against  him,  he  turned  to  me  and  said  quietly,  and 
without  the  slightest  anger  or  excitement,  '  If  I  could 
think  of  any  other  way  in  which  half  a  million  of  dol- 
lars would  do  as  much  good  to  the  state,  I  would  give 
the  legislature  no  more  trouble.'  Shortly  afterward, 
when  the  invective  was  again  especially  bitter,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said,  '  I  am  not  sure  but  that 
it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  me  to  give  the  half  a 
million  to  old  Harvard  College  in  Massachusetts,  to 
educate  the  descendents  of  the  men  who  hanged  my 
forefathers.' 

''  There  was  more  than  his  usual  quaint  humor  in 
this — there  was  that  deep  reverence  which  he  always 
bore  toward  his  Quaker  ancestry,  and  which  seemed 
to  have  become  part  of  him.  I  admired  Mr.  Cornell  on 
many  occasions,  but  never  more  than  during  that  hour 
when  he  sat,  without  the  slightest  anger,  mildly  taking 
the  abuse  of  that  prostituted  pettifogger,  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  committee,  and  the  laughter  of  the  audi- 
ence. It  was  a  scene  for  a  painter,  and  I  trust  that 
some  day  it  will  be  fitly  perpetuated  for  the  university. 

' '  This  struggle  over,  the  committee  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  report  the  bill;  it  was  easy  after  such  a 
speech  for  its  members  to  pose  as  protectors  of  the 
state  against  a  swindler  and  a  monopoly.  The  chair- 
man made  pretext  after  pretext  without  reporting, 
until  it  became  evident  that  we  must  have  a  struggle 
in  the  Assembly,  and  drag  the  bill  out  of  the  committee 
in  spite  of  him.  To  do  this  required  a  two-thirds  vote ; 
all  our  friends  were  set  at  work,  and  some  pains  taken 
to  scare  the  corporations  which  had  allied  themselves 
with  the  enemy  in  regard  to  the  fate  of  their  own  bills, 
by  making  them  understand  that  unless  they  stopped 
their  interested  opposition  to  the  university  bill  in  the 
House,  a  feeling  would  be  created  in  the  Senate  very 


88      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

■anfortunate  for  them.  In  this  way  their  clutch  upon 
sundry  members  of  the  Assembly  was  somewhat  re- 
laxed, and  these  were  allowed  to  vote  according  to  their 
consciences. 

*'  The  Cornell  bill  was  advocated  most  earnestly  in 
the  House  by  Hon.  Henry  B.  Lord,  afterwards  for 
many  years  a  valued  trustee  of  the  university,  who 
marshaled  the  university  forces,  and  moved  that  the  bill 
be  taken  from  the  committee  and  referred  to  the  com- 
mittee of  the  whole.  Now  came  a  struggle.  Most  of 
the  best  men  in  the  Assembly  stood  nobly  by  us;  but 
the  waverers — men  who  feared  local  pressure  or  sec- 
tarian hostility — attempted,  if  not  to  oppose  the  Cor- 
nell bill,  at  least  to  evade  a  vote  upon  it.  In  order  to 
give  them  a  little  tone  and  strength,  Mr.  Cornell  went 
with  me  to  various  leading  editors  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  we  explained  the  whole  matter  to  them,  se- 
curing editorial  articles  favorable  to  the  university; 
prominent  among  these  gentlemen  were  Horace 
Greeley  of  the  Tribune,  Erastus  Brooks  of  the  Express, 
and  Manton  Marble  of  the  World.  This  undoubtedly 
did  much  for  us,  yet,  when  the  vote  was  taken,  the  old 
loss  of  courage  was  again  shown;  but  several  friends 
of  the  bill  stood  in  the  cloak-room,  fairly  shamed  the 
waverers  back  into  their  places,  and,  as  a  result,  to  the 
surprise  and  disgust  of  the  chairman  of  the  Assembly 
committee,  the  bill  was  taken  out  of  his  control  and 
referred  to  the  committee  of  the  whole,  where  another 
long  struggle  now  ensued,  but  the  bill  was  finally 
passed,  and  received  the  approval  of  the  Senate  in  th'e 
form  in  which  it  came  from  the  House,  and  the  signa- 
ture of  Governor  Fenton. ' ' 

Through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Cook,  a  provision, 
which  we  must  regard  as  just  in  its  nature,  in  view  of 
the  previous  grant  of  land  to  the  People 's  College,  was 
inserted.     It  was  further  provided,  in  case  the  People 's 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      89 

College  could  show  within  three  months  from  the  date 
of  the  passage  of  the  charter  of  Cornell  University, 
that  it  had  upon  deposit  a  sum  of  money,  which,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  amount  already  expended,  should,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  New  York, 
enable  it  to  comply  fully  with  the  conditions  of  the  act 
of  the  legislature,  the  provisional  grant  to  it  should 
take  eifect.  Within  the  three  months  which  were  al- 
lowed, the  trustees  were  required  to  show  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  Regents,  that  they  possessed  adequate 
college  grounds,  farm,  workshops,  fixtures,  machinery, 
apparatus,  cabinets,  and  library,  not  encumbered.  In 
case  the  trustees  of  the  People's  College  failed  to 
comply  with  these  conditions,  which  were  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Regents,  the  act  conferring  the  land  upon 
Cornell  University  was  to  be  of  full  effect.  In  accord- 
ance with  this  provision,  it  was  required  that  the 
trustees  of  the  People's  College  should  purchase  within 
the  specified  time  one  hundred  and  twenty  additional 
acres  of  land,  and  have  funds  sufficient  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  building  to  provide  accommodations  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  students,  also  for  the  purchase  of 
collections,  apparatus,  and  library,  the  erection  of 
shops,  tools,  machinery,  etc.,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to 
$242,000,  and  to  meet  these  purchases,  it  was  provided 
that  the  trustees  must  deposit  $185,000  in  one  of  the 
state  deposit  banks  at  Albany,  within  the  time  speci- 
fied. The  estimates  upon  which  this  sum  was  based 
were  made  by  scholars  able  to  judge  of  the  cost  of  such 
collections  and  apparatus.  As  it  appeared  at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  period  designated,  that  the  trustees  of 
the  People's  College  had  failed  to  comply  with  the  law, 
the  entire  grant  lapsed  to  Cornell  University,  accord- 
ing to  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Regents,  which 
required  the  People's  College  to  raise  only  one-half  of 
the  sum  which  Mr.  Cornell  had  so  generously  offered. 


90      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Mr.  Cook  had  promised  to  endow  the  People's  College. 
He  had  failed  to  do  this,  and  after  a  serious  illness  his 
interest  in  fulfilling  the  terms  of  his  offer  ceased.  The 
original  friends  of  the  college,  who  had  labored  so 
hopefully  amid  so  many  discouragements,  abandoned 
gradually  all  expectations  of  its  final  success,  and  with- 
drew either  from  connection  with  it  or  from  any  active 
support.  Among  those  who  remained  faithful  to  the 
original  idea  of  the  People's  College  to  the  last  were 
Horace  Greeley,  Governor  Morgan,  and  Erastus 
Brooks.  It  was  seen  by  many  of  its  friends  that  the 
dominating  influence  of  the  largest  benefactor  was 
already  controlling  disadvantageously  the  execution  of 
the  original  plan  and  so  modifying  it,  that  its  friends 
no  longer  felt  an  interest  in  the  institution.  Dr. 
Brown,  its  president,  was  active  later  in  promoting 
legislation  in  Albany  in  behalf  of  Cornell  University. 
The  People's  College  died  before  its  birth,  and  only  a 
feeble  preparatory  department  came  into  existence. 
Later  the  college  building  and  grounds  passed  into  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Cook  and  formed  the  foundation  of 
the  present  Cook  Academy. 

The  legislature  of  New  York,  by  a  simple  act  passed 
at  its  session  of  1863,  accepted  the  national  land 
grant,  thus  binding  itself  and  the  state  of  New  York 
to  comply  with  all  the  conditions  and  provisions  of  that 
act.  On  May  5,  1863,  the  legislature  passed  a  law  by 
which  the  comptroller,  with  the  advice  of  the  attorney- 
general,  the  treasurer,  and  the  chancellor  of  the  uni- 
versity, was  authorized  to  receive  the  land  scrip  issued 
under  the  authority  of  the  Land  Grant  Act,  and  to  sell 
the  same  and  invest  the  proceeds  in  any  safe  stocks 
yielding  not  less  than  five  per  cent,  upon  the  par  value. 
The  money  so  received  was  to  be  invested  by  the  comp- 
troller in  stocks  of  the  United  States  or  of  this  state, 
or  in  any  other  safe  stocks  jdelding  not  less  per  annum 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY       91 

than  the  rate  above  mentioned,  which  amount  was  to 
remain  a  perpetual  fund,  a  capital  to  be  forever  un- 
diminished, except  as  provided  for  in  the  act  of  Con- 
gress. He  was  authorized  to  pay  from  the  state  treas- 
ury all  expenses  for  the  selection,  management,  super- 
intendence, and  taxes  upon  the  lands,  previous  to  their 
sale,  and  all  expenses  incurred  in  the  management  and 
disbursement  of  the  money  received  therefrom,  and 
all  incidental  matters  connected  with  or  arising  out  of 
the  care,  management,  and  sale  of  the  lands,  so  that 
the  entire  proceeds  should  be  applied  without  any  dimi- 
nution whatever  to  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  act 
of  Congress.  The  act  providing  for  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Land  Grant  Fund  was  followed  on  May  14, 
1863,  by  the  law  transferring  the  income  of  this  fund 
under  certain  conditions  to  the  trustees  of  the  People 's 
College.  Upon  the  failure  of  the  trustees  of  this  col- 
lege to  fulfill  the  requirements  of  the  grant,  a  charter 
was  given  to  the  trustees  of  Cornell  University.  As 
regards  the  name  of  the  university,  the  Hon.  Andrew 
D.  White  has  said :  ' '  While  Mr.  Cornell  urged  Ithaca 
as  the  site  of  the  proposed  institution,  he  never  showed 
any  wish  to  give  his  own  name  to  it ;  the  suggestion  to 
that  effect  was  mine.  He  would  have  called  it  the 
'  State  College,'  or  the  '  Central  University,'  or  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  He  at  first  doubted  the  policy  of  it, 
but  on  my  insisting  that  it  was  in  accordance  with 
time-honored  American  usage,  as  shown  by  the  names 
of  Harvard,  Yale,  Bowdoin,  Brown,  Williams,  and  the 
like,  he  yielded.  Let  me  say  here  that  I  never  knew 
a  man  more  free  from  self-seeking  and  ambition  for 
distinction  than  the  man  whose  name  the  university 
bears." 

The  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity was  held  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  the  State 
Agricultural  Society,  in  the  State  Geological  Hall,  in 


92      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  city  of  Albany,  on  the  28th  day  of  April,  1865.  Of  the 
charter  members  there  were  present  Ezra  Cornell,  Will- 
iam Kelly,  Horace  Greeley,  Josiah  B.  Williams,  George 
W.  Schuyler,  William  Andrus,  J.  Meredith  Read;  and 
of  the  trustees  ex-officio,  Governor  Reuben  E.  Fen- 
ton,  Victor  M.  Rice,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and  Francis  M.  Finch,  librarian  of  the  Cornell 
Library.  In  accordance  with  the  charter,  seven  addi- 
tional trustees  were  elected,  viz.:  Andrew  D.  White, 
Abram  B.  Weaver,  Charles  J.  Folger,  George  H.  An- 
drews, Edwin  B.  Morgan,  and  Edwin  D.  Morgan.  Of 
the  original  charter  members,  Messrs.  Ezra  Cornell, 
William  Kelly,  and  J.  B.  Williams  had  been  trustees  of 
the  Agricultural  College,  and  Messrs.  Horace  Greeley 
and  Erastus  Brooks,  of  the  People's  College.  The 
most  influential  representatives  of  both  the  earlier  col- 
leges were  thus  united  in  the  support  of  the  new  uni- 
versity. It  was  believed  that  opposition  from  these 
rival  institutions  would  cease  if  the  conflicting  in- 
terests were  thus  harmonized.  Mr.  Wliite  had  used 
his  influence  to  prevent  the  division  of  the  Land  Grant 
fund,  and  been  one  of  Mr.  Cornell's  most  trusted 
advisers  and  supporters  in  procuring  the  charter  of 
Cornell  University.  Mr.  Erastus  Brooks  had  been 
active  in  securing  the  charter  of  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, and  had  promoted  the  interests  of  the  university 
by  public  advocacy  in  the  New  York  Express,  of  which 
he  was  editor.  Mr.  George  H.  Andrews  was  selected 
from  the  Senate  on  account  of  his  friendliness  to  the 
charter.  Mr.  Read  had  actively  supported  the  charter 
outside  of  the  legislature.  Mr.  Charles  J.  Folger, 
afterwards  secretary  of  the  treasury,  had  likewise  used 
his  influence  in  behalf  of  securing  the  land  grant 
for  the  university.  Mr.  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  United 
States  Senator  from  New  York,  had  been  active  in  Con- 
gress in  promoting  the  passage  of  the  Land  Grant  Act. 


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CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      93 


Colonel  Edwin  B.  Morgan  of  Aurora  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress.  Mr.  Abram  B.  Weaver  was  for  many 
years  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  had 
exerted  an  honorable  influence  in  behalf  of  popular 
education.  At  this  meeting,  the  conditions,  privileges, 
and  powers  of  the  act  establishing  the  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, also  the  terms  of  the  act  bestowing  the  land  scrip, 
were  accepted. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was 
held  on  the  5th  of  September,  1865,  and  Mr.  Cornell 
was  elected  president  of  the  board,  the  Hon.  Francis 
M.  Finch  secretary,  the  Hon.  George  W'.  Schuyler 
treasurer.  A  building  committee  was  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  White,  Cornell,  Kelly,  Weaver,  and 
Finch;  and  an  executive  committee  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Andrus,  Williams,  Schuyler,  A.  B.  Cornell,  E. 
B.  Morgan,  Parker,  E.  Cornell,  Alvord,  and  Greeley; 
and  a  finance  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  E.  D. 
Morgan,  Williams,  Kelly,  McGraw,  and  A.  B.  Cornell. 

The  third  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held 
in  the  Agricultural  Rooms  in  Albany,  March  14,  1866. 
A  report  was  presented,  describing  the  satisfactory 
condition  of  the  affairs  of  the  university  and  making 
suggestions  as  to  its  future  monetary  policy.  A  report 
of  the  building  committee  was  also  made.  Five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  were  put  at  the  disposal  of  the 
building  committee,  and  it  was  voted  to  commence  at 
the  earliest  day  consistent  with  the  interests  of  the  uni- 
versity the  necessary  building  or  buildings.  The 
building  committee  and  the  executive  committee  were 
authorized  jointly  to  procure  by  purchase  or  otherwise 
any  building  or  buildings  and  land  near  the  proposed 
location  of  Cornell  University  suitable  for  the  pur- 
poses and  uses  of  said  university.  It  is  evident  that 
the  site  of  the  university  had  been  selected  at  this  time, 
but  no  vote  ap]3ears  in  any  records  of  proceedings  by 


94      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

which  the  present  location  was  formally  adopted.  The 
late  Judge  Boardman  stated  that,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Cornell  and  eleven  other  gentlemen,  he  went  over  the 
land  upon  East  Hill  which  might  be  regarded  as 
adapted  to  the  proposed  university.  The  opinion  of 
these  gentlemen  was,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Cornell, 
unanimously  in  favor  of  locating  the  university  build- 
ings upon  the  plateau  west  of  the  present  site.  This 
position  was  apparently  Mr.  Cornell's  earliest  choice, 
when  he  wrote  that  the  new  university  would  be  sit- 
uated but  ten  minutes  from  the  post  office.  This  loca- 
tion would  have  afforded  ampler  space  for  the  erection 
of  buildings,  and  avoided  a  large  expense  in  grading. 
It  would  have  afforded  beautiful  views  and  brought  the 
university  in  those  early  days  into  more  immediate 
connection  with  the  village,  and  thus  the  great  need 
of  suitable  accommodations  for  the  students  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  university  would  have  been  more  satis- 
factorily met.  At  the  entrance  of  the  present  univer- 
sity grounds  stood  the  vast  and  impracticable  structure 
known  as  the  ^'  Cascadilla,"  the  source  of  whose  mys- 
terious architecture  history  has  kindly  veiled  in  ob- 
scurity. This  building  had  been  erected  by  subscrip- 
tions of  the  citizens  of  Ithaca,  aided  by  a  state  grant, 
for  the  purpose  of  a  water-cure  establishment.  At 
this  time  the  interior  was  incomplete.  Mr.  Cornell 
was  the  largest  stockholder  in  the  Cascadilla  Company. 
By  finishing  the  edifice,  it  would  be  available  for  a 
large  number  of  the  faculty,  who  would  arrive  unpro- 
vided with  residences,  and  for  a  considerable  number 
of  students.  There  were  also  several  farm  buildings 
at  the  north  end  of  the  present  university  campus, 
which  might  be  used  in  connection  with  the  proposed 
model  farm.  These  considerations  seem  to  have  been 
decisive  in  determining  the  choice  of  the  present  site 
of  the  university. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      95 

At  the  fourth  meeting  of  the  trustees,  held  in  the 
Cornell  Library  in  Ithaca,  October  21,  1866,  Mr.  Cor- 
nell was  authorized  to  sell,  at  his  discretion,  100,000 
acres  of  land  lately  located  by  him  in  the  interest  of 
the  university,  at  a  price  not  less  than  five  dollars  per 
acre,  and  an  able  and  elaborate  report  of  the  commit- 
tee on  organization  was  then  read  by  its  chairman,  the 
Hon.  Andrew  D.  TMiite.  In  order  to  secure  the  expres- 
sion of  an  impartial  judgment  in  the  choice  of  profes- 
sors, and  to  avoid  the  risk  of  the  introduction  of  a  per- 
sonal or  prejudiced  feeling  in  their  election,  it  was 
voted  that  all  officers  of  the  university  should  be  elected 
by  ballot.  A  committee  to  select  and  report  upon  the 
names  of  suitable  professors  for  the  university,  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  the  board,  was  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  Brooks  and  White,  and  John  Stanton 
Gould,  whose  name  appears  for  the  first  time  in  con- 
nection with  the  proceedings  of  the  board  during  this 
year  as  president  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  and 
ex-officio  trustee.  A  careful  consideration  of  promi- 
nent men  who  might  be  considered  for  the  distinguished 
office  of  president  of  the  new  university  had  been  previ- 
ously made,  a  record  of  which  is  still  preserved.  Corre- 
spondence respecting  Governor  John  A.  Andrew,  the 
brilliant  ^'^  war  governor  "  of  Massachusetts,  exists. 
It  is  not  known  if  personal  representations  were  made 
to  him,  though  it  is  possible.  Other  names  on  this  list 
are  those  of  the  eminent  educator.  President  Martin  B. 
Anderson  of  Rochester  University,  and  General  H.  W. 
Benham,  of  the  regular  army,  and  Dr.  Henry  Barnard, 
for  many  years  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Education.  Mr.  Andrew  D.  White  was  unanimously 
elected  president  of  the  university.  Mr.  White  gives 
the  following  account  of  his  election  to  the  presidency : 

*'  Mr.  Cornell  had  asked  me,  from  time  to  time, 
whether  I  could  suggest  any  person  for  the  presidency 


96      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

of  the  university.  I  mentioned  various  persons,  and 
presented  the  arguments  in  their  favor.  One  day  he 
said  to  me  quietly  that  he  also  had  a  candidate ;  I  asked 
him  who  it  was,  and  he  said  that  he  preferred  to  keep 
the  matter  to  himself  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
trustees.  Nothing  more  passed  between  us  on  that 
subject;  I  had  no  inkling  of  his  purpose,  but  thought 
it  most  likely  that  his  candidate  was  a  western  gentle- 
man, whose  claims  had  been  strongly  pressed  upon  him. 
When  the  trustees  came  together,  and  the  subject  was 
brought  up,  I  presented  the  merits  of  various  gentle- 
men, especially  of  one  already  at  the  head  of  an  im- 
portant college  in  the  state,  who,  I  thought,  would  give 
us  success.  Upon  this  Mr.  Cornell  rose,  and,  in  a  very 
simple  but  earnest  speech,  presented  my  name.  It  was 
entirely  unexpected  by  me,  and  I  endeavored  to  show 
the  trustees  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  take  the 
place  in  view  of  other  duties, — that  it  needed  a  man  of 
more  robust  health,  of  greater  age,  and  of  wider  repu- 
tation in  the  state.  But  Mr.  Cornell  quietly  persisted, 
our  colleagues  declared  themselves  unanimously  of  his 
opinion,  and,  with  many  misgivings,  I  gave  a  pro- 
visional acceptance. ' '  ^ 

The  newspaper  reports  of  this  meeting  state  that 
provisions  were  made  for  the  equipment  of  the  uni- 
versity, so  as  to  enable  it  to  begin  operations  in  the 
following  summer  of  1867,  and  for  the  erection  of  pro- 
fessors' residences. 

The  fifth  meeting  of  the  board  was  held  in  the  Agri- 
cultural Rooms  in  Albany,  February  13,  1867.  At  this 
meeting  the  first  professors  were  nominated.  The 
committee  on  the  selection  of  the  faculty  reported, 
nominating  Professor  E.  W.  Evans,  A.  M.,  to  the  chair 
of  mathematics;  Professor  William  C.  Russel,  A.  M., 

'  A  memorandurn  exists  giving  the  namea  which  had  been  submitted  to 
Mr.  Cornell  for  this  important  position. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      97 

to  the  chair  of  modern  languages  and  as  adjunct-pro- 
fessor of  history.  The  professorship  of  mathematics 
was  to  include  civil  engineering*  and  the  professorship 
of  modern  languages  associate  instruction  in  history. 

At  the  following  meeting  of  the  board,  held  in  Al- 
bany, September  26,  1867,  four  additional  professors 
were  elected,  viz. :  Burt  G.  Wilder,  M.  D.,  as  professor 
of  natural  history ;  Eli  W.  Blake,  professor  of  physics ; 
G.  C.  Caldwell,  Ph.  D.,  as  professor  of  agricultural 
chemistry;  and  James  M.  Crafts,  B.  S.,  as  professor  of 
general  chemistry.  The  salary  of  professors  was  fixed 
at  twenty-five  hundred  dollars. 

At  the  seventh  meeting  of  the  board,  held  also  in 
Albany,  February  13,  1868,  the  following  additional 
professors  were  elected :  Joseph  Harris,  professor  of 
agriculture;  Major  J.  W.  Whittlesey,  professor  of 
military  science;  L.  H.  Mitchell,  professor  of  mining 
and  metallurgy ;  D.  W.  Fiske,  professor  of  North  Euro- 
pean languages;  and  the  following  non-resident  pro- 
fessors :  Louis  Agassiz,  professor  of  natural  history ; 
Governor  Fred  Holbrook,  of  agriculture;  James  Hall, 
of  general  geology;  James  Russell  Lowell,  of  English 
literature;  George  William  Curtis,  of  recent  litera- 
ture; and  Theodore  W.  Dwight,  of  constitutional  law. 
The  term  of  oflfice  of  non-resident  professors,  when  not 
otherwise  specified,  was  fixed  at  two  years.  A  com- 
mittee on  a  university  printing-house  was  appointed. 

At  the  eighth  meeting  of  the  trustees,  held  at  the 
opening  of  the  university,  October  6,  1868,  the  remain- 
ing vacancies  in  the  faculty  were  filled  by  the  election 
of  Charles  Fred.  Hartt  as  professor  of  geology ;  Albert 
S.  Wheeler  as  professor  of  ancient  languages;  Albert 
N.  Prentiss  as  professor  of  botany;  Homer  B.  Sprague 
as  professor  of  rhetoric;  and  John  L.  Morris  as  pro- 
fessor of  mechanical  engineering  and  director  of  the 
shops. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  LAND  GEANT ; 

MR.  Cornell's  services 

MR.  CORNELL'S  noble  offer  to  the  trustees 
of  tlie  State  Agricultural  College  relieved 
that  institution  from  impending  bank- 
ruptcy, which  hung  over  it  at  the  time  of 
their  meeting  in  Rochester.  The  proposition  received 
the  hearty  and  grateful  approval  of  the  board.  A 
committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
citizens  of  Ovid  and  obtain  from  them,  if  practicable, 
an  approval  of  the  transfer  of  the  college  property  to 
Ithaca,  and  their  co-operation  in  procuring  the  neces- 
sary legislation  to  render  Mr.  Cornell's  offer  effective, 
and  to  sell  the  farm  and  college  building  to  the  state 
for  a  soldiers'  home  or  for  some  other  object  of  public 
benevolence. 

At  a  meeting  then  called,  which  met  in  Albany,  to 
which  a  large  number  of  the  friends  of  education  had 
been  invited,  the  sentiment  of  all  present  was  opposed 
to  any  division  of  the  land  grant,  and  they  decided  to 
petition  the  legislature  to  make  a  gift  of  the  whole 
990,000  acres  of  land  to  one  institution,  rather  than  to 
divide  it  among  the  separate  colleges  of  the  state. 

In  a  letter  to  the  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Mis- 
souri, to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  Mr. 
Cornell  described  the  change  in  his  views  of  this  ques- 
tion: 

''  When  the  friends  of  the  People's  College  at 
Havana  and  those  of  the  State  Agricultural  College  at 
Ovid  were  each  striving  to  secure  a  grant  of  the  New 

98 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      99 

York  '  College  Land  Scrip  '  for  their  respective  col- 
leges, I  advised  a  compromise  of  the  question  by  a 
division  of  the  fund  between  them,  by  which  means  I 
supposed  each  college  would  secure  an  endowment  of 
a  half-million  of  dollars,  a  sum  that  I  regarded  at  the 
time  as  ample  for  all  purposes  connected  with  a  fully 
equipped  college.  My  views,  however,  were  wisely 
combated  by  other  friends  of  education  (among  whom 
President  White  was  conspicuous),  and  the  policy  of 
concentration  of  resources  was  adopted  by  the  legis- 
lature, and  the  proceeds  of  the  990,000  acres  allotted 
to  New  York  were  bestowed  upon  a  single  institution, 
conditioned  upon  the  bestowal  of  half  a  million  dollars 
from  other  sources  upon  the  same  institution ;  and  with 
such  resources,  more  is  required  to  enable  the  trustees 
to  place  the  faculty  of  the  institution  in  the  possession 
of  such  facilities  as  the  best  interests  of  the  students 
demand. 

^'  The  experience  of  the  past  five  years  has  proved 
the  error  of  my  views  then,  and  nobly  vindicated  the 
wisdom  of  those  who  said,  '  Let  us  concentrate  our 
resources  and  unite  our  efforts,  and  build  up  a  univer- 
sity that  shall  be  worthy  of  the  name  University, 
and  worthy  of  the  noble  gift  that  Congress  has 
bestowed  upon  the  state  in  the  aid  of  practical  edu- 
cation. ' 

"  I  now  say  to  you,  my  noble  friend,  as  my  friends 
then  said  to  me,  concentrate,  concentrate;  bring  to- 
gether all  the  resources  the  state  can  spare  for  a 
higher  education,  administer  them  wisely  so  as  to  pro- 
duce the  best  results,  and  then  what  you  lack  call  on 
your  rich  men  to  give  you,  and  go  forward  and  build 
up  such  a  university  as  the  growing  wants  of  your 
great  state  demand." 

After  the  charter  of  Cornell  University  had  been 
formally  granted,  the  difficulty  of  realizing  any  sum 


100     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

commensurate  with  the  magnificent  amount  of  land 
received  from  the  state,  faced  the  trustees.  It  was 
then  that  the  sagacity  of  Mr.  Cornell  and  his  great 
devotion  to  the  cause  which  he  had  espoused  were  fully 
manifested.  He  surrendered  himself  and  all  his 
powers  during  the  nine  years  of  his  life  which  re- 
mained, to  the  one  grand  thought  of  realizing  the  high- 
est possible  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  this  land.  Dur- 
ing the  year  1865,  most  of  the  Northern  States  received 
their  land  scrip,  which  was  practically  a  certificate 
authorizing  the  selection  of  the  amount  of  land  speci- 
fied in  the  scrip  from  any  of  the  public  lands  of  the 
United  States  not  mineral,  and  not  otherwise  disposed 
of.  The  act  of  Congress  provided  that  in  no  case 
should  any  state  to  which  land  scrip  was  issued  be 
allowed  to  locate  the  same  within  the  limits  of  any 
other  state  or  of  any  territory  of  the  United  States,  but 
that  their  assignees  might  thus  locate  said  land  scrip 
upon  any  of  the  unappropriated  government  lands 
which  were  subject  to  sale  by  private  entry.  Most  of 
the  states,  in  order  to  realize  immediately  the  value 
of  the  national  grant,  sold  the  land  scrip  issued  to  them 
in  great  blocks  to  speculators.  In  consequence  of  this, 
the  public  lands,  whose  nominal  value  was  $1.25,  could 
be  obtained  for  the  price  at  which  the  scrip  was  sold. 
The  amount  realized  from  this  sale  was  in  some  cases 
as  low  as  forty-one  cents  per  acre,  and  the  entire 
amount  of  the  national  land  grant  to  all  the  states, 
amounting  to  9,597,840  acres,  realized  only  $15,866,- 
371.39,  an  average  of  $1.65  per  acre;  of  all  the  states, 
only  California,  Wisconsin,  Tennessee,  Kansas,  Flor- 
ida, Iowa,  Minnesota,  Michigan,  and  New  York  realized 
over  $1.25  per  acre.  While  the  gift  to  New  York  was 
a  little  more  than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  entire  grant, 
through  the  sagacity  and  devotion  of  Mr.  Cornell  and 
the  wise  administration  of  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage,  the 


CORNELL  UNLV^ERSITY:  A  HISTORY     101 

grant  to  the  state  of  New  York  has  realized  about 
forty  per  cent,  of  the  entire  sum  resulting  from  the 
national  bounty.  Had  the  vast  grant  bestowed  upon 
the  state  of  New  York  been  thrown  upon  the  market 
at  once,  embracing  as  it  did  one-tenth  of  the  entire 
land  grant,  the  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  various 
states,  to  which  this  legacy  had  been  entrusted  by  the 
national  government  for  educational  purposes,  would 
have  been  far  greater.  Mr.  Cornell  made  a  careful 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  land  acquired  each  year  by 
actual  settlers  from  the  national  government.  He  saw 
that  if  the  states  could  retain  their  lands  for  the  pres- 
ent until  the  demand  for  desirable  government  land 
had  been  exhausted,  the  price  of  the  land  must  inev- 
itably increase  in  value.  With  this  object  in  view  he 
prepared  a  circular  letter,  which  he  addressed  to  the 
various  institutions  which  had  received  the  grant,  and 
in  certain  cases  to  state  authorities,  urging  them  to 
withhold  their  scrip  from  the  market. 

In  his  report  of  1864,  the  comptroller  stated  that  he 
had  received  the  land  scrip  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
consisting  of  6,187  pieces  of  160  acres  each,  amounting 
to  999,000  acres  of  land.  In  1865  he  reported  that, 
after  consultation  with  the  officers  designated  in  the 
act  of  the  legislature  directing  a  sale  of  the  scrip,  the 
price  was  fixed  at  eighty-five  cents  per  acre,  and  the 
scrip  advertised  for  sale.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
months  sales  were  made  to  the  extent  of  475  pieces, 
equal  to  76,000  acres,  at  the  rate  of  eighty-five  cents 
per  acre,  except  upon  the  first  parcel  of  fifty  pieces 
sold.  A  rebate  of  two  cents  per  acre  was  allowed  in 
consideration  of  certain  advantages  offered  in  the  mat- 
ter of  advertising  in  the  northwestern  states.  The 
total  amount  received  on  all  the  sales  was  $64,440.  He 
reported  that  the  sales  of  the  scrip  had  recently  almost 
entirely  ceased,  in  consequence  of  other  states  reduc- 


102     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ing  the  price  to  a  much  lower  rate  than  that  at  which 
it  was  held  by  this  state.  Therefore  it  became  an  im- 
portant question  whether  the  price  should  also  be 
reduced  here  and  a  sacrifice  made  to  induce  sales,  or 
the  land  be  held  as  the  best  security  for  the  fund  until 
the  sales  could  be  made  at  fair  rates.  The  comp- 
troller himself  favored  the  latter  course.  Mr.  Cornell 
said:  "  After  the  passage  of  the  act  chartering  Cor- 
nell University,  finding  5,712  pieces  of  scrip  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  comptroller,  representing  913,920  acres 
of  land,  I  turned  my  attention  to  the  question  of  con- 
verting this  scrip  into  the  largest  sum  of  money  prac- 
ticable in  a  reasonable  time.  My  investigation  of  the 
subject  led  to  the  conviction  that  the  best  policy  was 
for  me  to  purchase  the  scrip  of  the  state,  and  locate 
the  land  and  sell  the  same  as  opportunity  offered,  for 
the  interest  of  the  university."  In  1866  the  comp- 
troller reported  upon  the  college  land  scrip :  "No 
sales  were  made  during  the  year  ending  September  30, 
1865.  Since  that  date,  with  the  concurrence  of  all  the 
ofiicers  named  in  the  act  providing  for  the  sale  except 
the  chancellor  of  the  university,  who  is  absent  from  the 
country,  a  sale  of  100,000  acres  has  been  made  to  the 
Hon.  Ezra  Cornell  for  $50,000,  for  which  sum  he  gave 
his  bond  properly  secured,  upon  the  condition  that  all 
the  profits  which  should  accrue  from  the  sales  of  the 
land  should  be  paid  to  Cornell  University,  which  he 
had  so  munificently  endowed."  His  contract  for  this 
purchase  was  dated  November  24,  1865.  Of  the  625 
pieces  of  scrip  thus  purchased,  twenty-five  pieces  were 
located  in  Kansas,  fifty  pieces  in  Minnesota,  and  the 
balance  in  Wisconsin,  all,  or  nearly  all,  on  good  farm- 
ing lands. 

In  March,  1866,  he  sought  to  unite  the  authorities 
of  the  Illinois  Industrial  University  and  those  of  the 
University  of  Kentucky  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  ex- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     103 

emption  from  taxation  of  all  lands  granted  by  the 
United  States  government  for  educational  purposes. 

On  April  10,  1866,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  to 
authorize  and  facilitate  the  early  disposition  by  the 
comptroller  of  the  land  scrip  donated  to  this  state  by 
the  United  States.  Mr.  Cornell  thereupon  opened 
negotiations  with  commissioners  of  the  Land  Office  for 
the  purchase  of  the  balance  of  the  scrip  remaining  in 
the  possession  of  the  comptroller,  amounting  to  5,087 
pieces,  in  July,  1866,  which  resulted  in  an  agreement 
dated  the  4th  of  August,  1866. 

In  order  that  the  gift  to  New  York  should  not  be 
wasted,  Mr.  Cornell  made  a  contract  with  the  people 
of  the  state  of  New  York  through  their  commissioners 
of  the  Land  Office,  which  was  sanctioned  by  the  legis- 
lature, by  which  he  agreed  to  purchase  all  of  the  agri- 
cultural land  scrip  then  in  the  possession  of  the  state 
of  New  York,  consisting  of  5,087  certificates,  each  rep- 
resenting 160  acres,  for  which  he  promised  to  pay 
thirty  cents  per  acre,  and  to  deposit  stocks  or  bonds 
for  an  amount  equal  to  an  additional  thirty  cents  per 
acre,  the  estimated  market  value  of  the  land  scrip  at 
that  time.  Mr.  Cornell  also  entered  into  obligation 
at  the  same  time  and  by  the  same  instrument,  with 
ample  security,  to  locate  the  lands  with  the  scrip  thus 
purchased,  in  his  own  name,  and  to  pay  the  taxes  and 
all  expenses  of  such  location,  and  to  sell  the  land  in 
twenty  years  and  to  pay  all  the  net  proceeds  over  and 
above  the  expenses  and  the  sixty  cents  an  acre  above 
referred  to,  into  the  treasury  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  The  amount  originally  received  for  the  land 
scrip  was  to  constitute  the  College  Land  Scrip  Fund, 
and  the  amount  realized  from  the  sale  of  lands,  over 
and  above  sixty  cents  per  acre  and  the  expenses,  was 
to  constitute  a  separate  fund  to  be  called  the  Cornell 
Endowment  Fund,  the  income  of  which  should  be  de- 


104     COKNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

voted  forever  to  Cornell  University.  Mr.  Cornell 
offered  to  purchase  at  once  100,000  acres  of  land  at  the 
highest  market  price  at  that  time,  and  to  give  bonds 
for  the  faithful  execution  of  his  trust,  and  for  the  pay- 
ment to  the  university  of  every  dollar  which,  in  the 
future,  he  might  be  able  to  obtain  from  the  sale  of  the 
land. 

Mr.  Cornell  sought  to  induce  other  wealthy  men  to 
purchase  100,000  acres  of  land  at  five  dollars  per  acre 
for  this  benevolent  purpose,  and  to  wait  for  a  return 
of  their  money  until  at  some  time  in  the  future,  when 
the  lands  would  bring  more  than  five  dollars.  This 
would  have  been  a  generous  advance,  with  the  land  as 
security,  and  would  have  secured  an  immediate  fund 
of  half  a  million  dollars  for  the  university.  He  also 
organized  and  had  incorporated  the  New  York  Lumber, 
Manufacturing,  and  Improvement  Company,  the  pur- 
pose of  which  was  to  purchase  the  most  valuable  un- 
occupied water-power  in  the  West,  and  a  town  site  of 
a  thousand  acres,  with  a  view  to  manufacture  lumber, 
the  sole  object  of  which  should  be  to  enrich  his  beloved 
university.  The  proposed  town  was  to  be  located  at 
Brunett's  Falls,  the  great  water  power  of  the  Chip- 
pewa River  in  Wisconsin. 

The  energy  with  which  Mr.  Cornell  prosecuted  his 
great  purpose,  and  the  hardships  which  he  voluntarily 
assumed  in  locating  the  forest  lands  of  the  university, 
are  illustrated  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  August  24, 
1866: 

'*  I  have  just  returned  from  a  trip  of  three  days  in 
the  pineries  of  the  Chippewa,  sleeping  two  nights  in 
such  rude  camps  as  we  could  construct  of  pine  boughs, 
by  the  application  of  half  an  hour's  labor.  Yesterday 
morning  we  were  roused  from  our  slumbers  by  the 
howling  of  a  pack  of  wolves  of  a  dozen  or  more,  count- 
ing by  the  noise  and  varying  voices.     They  remained 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     105 

with  us  an  hour  and  then  moved  slowly  on  until  their 
howl  was  lost  in  the  distance." 

When  this  arrangement  was  reached,  by  which  Mr. 
Cornell  assumed  the  vast  task  of  locating  the  lands, 
the  proceeds  of  which  would  constitute  the  future  cap- 
ital of  the  university,  he  felt  a  sense  of  relief  that  he 
was  permitted  by  the  state  to  carry  out  the  views 
which  commended  themselves  to  his  judgment,  and 
which  he  fondly  believed  would  secure  forever  the 
prosperity  of  the  university  that  he  loved.  On  the 
evening  of  that  day  he  wrote : ' '  I  now  feel  for  the  first 
time  that  the  destiny  of  the  university  is  fixed,  and  that 
its  ultimate  endowment  will  be  ample  for  the  vast  field 
of  labor  it  embraces,  and,  if  properly  organized,  for 
the  development  of  truth,  industry,  and  frugality.  It 
will  become  a  power  in  the  land,  which  will  control  and 
mould  the  future  of  this  great  state,  and  carry  it  on- 
ward and  upward  in  its  industrial  development  and 
support  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  its  guaran- 
tee of  equal  rights  and  equal  laws  to  all  men."  The 
man  who  saw  in  the  realization  of  his  hopes  no  per- 
sonal gain  or  glory,  but  only  a  contribution  to  truth 
and  knowledge  and  the  support  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  and  equal  rights,  had  certainly  a  noble  and 
prophetic  vision  of  the  highest  ideals  which  society 
can  reach. 

At  this  time,  his  highest  estimate  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  national  land  grant  was  less  than  three  millions  of 
dollars,  even  assuming  a  large  success  in  carrying  out 
his  plans.  He  proceeded  with  the  location  of  the  land, 
4,000  acres  of  which  were  located  in  Kansas,  8,000  acres 
in  Minnesota,  and  the  balance,  about  513,920  acres,  in 
Wisconsin.  Of  the  amount  located  in  Wisconsin  about 
400,000  acres  were  selected  as  fine  timber  lands.  The 
labor  incurred  in  this  vast  undertaking  for  the  good 
of  the  university  which  he  had  at  heart  cannot  be  over- 


106     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

estimated.  It  was  necessary  for  him  to  spend  a  whole 
summer  in  the  wilderness;  to  employ  skilful  and  ex- 
perienced assistants ;  to  encounter  great  exposure  and 
fatigue;  and  to  spend  large  portions  of  his  private 
fortune  in  surveying,  locating,  and  paying  taxes  upon 
these  lands  during  a  long  series  of  years.  The  work 
was  done  as  systematically  as  though  the  resultant 
gains  were  to  be  his  own  private  possession. 

Mr.  Cornell's  faith  would  have  led  him  to  proceed 
further  in  the  location  of  lands,  and  in  enlarging  his 
personal  responsibility,  for  the  cost  of  retaining  them 
until  they  could  be  profitably  disposed  of.  The  trustees 
of  the  university,  however,  realized  that  Mr,  Cornell's 
fortune,  large  as  it  was,  would  be  inadequate  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  task  which  he  had  undertaken.  The 
act  of  Congress  permitted  the  location  of  only  one 
million  acres  of  government  land  in  any  one  state. 
The  entries  of  land  based  upon  the  college  scrip  had 
been  filled  in  three  great  states,  which  aiforded  the 
promise  of  most  immediate  returns,  viz.,  in  Wisconsin, 
Michigan,  and  Minnesota.  The  balance  of  the  scrip 
could  not,  therefore,  be  located  in  these  states,  and  it 
would  be  necessary  to  select  lands  further  west  or  in 
the  southwest.  Such  a  division  of  the  university 
domain  would  render  its  efficient  management  difficult, 
and  make  it  impossible  to  concentrate  attention  upon 
the  administration  of  the  lands  which  had  already  been 
located.  College  land  scrip  had  been  selling  in  the 
two  preceding  years  for  less  than  sixty  cents  per  acre. 
In  view  of  these  facts,  the  trustees  united  in  a  request 
to  the  State  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office  to  au- 
thorize Mr.  Cornell  to  sell  the  balance  of  the  college 
scrip  at  not  less  than  seventy-five  cents  per  acre,  or  to 
locate  it  as  he  might  deem  best.  This  petition  was 
signed  December  1,  1867,  and  Mr.  Cornell's  agreement 
with  the  state  was  modified  in  accordance  therewith  on 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     107 

the  18th  of  the  same  month.  Mr.  Cornell  succeeded  in 
inducing  one  of  the  largest  dealers  in  college  land  scrip 
to  co-operate  with  him  in  withholding  the  scrip  from 
the  market,  and  to  dispose  of  it  to  customers  only  so 
fast  as  it  should  be  needed  for  location.  In  this  man- 
ner Mr.  Cornell  was  enabled  to  dispose  advantageously 
of  625  pieces  of  scrip,  representing  100,000  acres  of 
land,  at  ninety  cents  per  acre,  and  1,125  pieces,  or 
180,000  acres  of  land,  at  one  dollar  per  acre,  on  April 
13,  1868.  On  December  15,  1869,  the  remaining  637 
pieces,  representing  101,920  acres  of  land,  were  sold 
at  eighty-six  cents  per  acre.^  Mr.  Cornell  was  thus 
enabled  to  dispose  of  all  the  remaining  land  scrip  for 
$357,651,  realizing  about  ninety-four  cents  per  acre. 
For  all  his  services  in  effecting  these  sales  he  received 
no  compensation,  and  was  content  to  see  these  profits 
placed  to  the  credit  of  the  university.  Minor  sales 
were  made  at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  all  the  trustees 
of  the  university,  Mr.  Cornell  remaining  inflexible  in 
his  opinion  that  the  retention  of  the  land  would  add 
still  further  to  its  value.  But  the  trustees,  realizing 
that  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  university,  even  upon 
the  limited  scale  on  which  it  was  inaugurated,  exceeded 
its  income,  expressed  the  belief  that  a  moderate  addi- 
tion to  the  resources  of  the  university  at  that  time 
would  be  of  greater  utility  than  a  much  larger  addition 
at  a  later  period;  that  it  would  enable  the  institution 
to  grow  in  departments  where  immediate  growth  was 
extremely  desirable ;  and  that  there  would  remain  after 
such  sale,  if  reasonable  expectations  were  fulfilled,  an 
ample  endowment  from  the  profits  of  the  land  unsold 
for  all  the  future  needs  and  requirements  of  the  uni- 
versity. In  this  request  the  high  officers  of  the  state, 
who  were  ex-officio  trustees,  including  the  governor 
and  comptroller,  joined.    About  this  time  an  article 

'  Senate  documents  of  the  State  of  New  York,  No.  103,  January,  1874. 


108     COENELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY 

appeared  in  a  leading  paper,  in  a  city  in  the  central 
part  of  the  state,  charging  Mr.  Cornell  with  a  vast 
land  speculation  in  securing  control  of  the  university 
lands.  His  acquisition  of  the  lands  was  said  to  be  made 
with  the  prospect  of  acquiring  from  their  sale  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  Cornell's 
statement  was  quoted,  that  the  university  will  probably 
receive  two  millions  of  dollars  from  these  lands,  and 
the  question  asked  what  becomes  of  the  twenty-three 
millions  and  over  of  the  balance  which  will  be  realized. 
An  unwarranted  item  in  a  local  newspaper,  stating 
that  the  value  of  these  lands  was  sixty  dollars  per  acre, 
was  the  basis  of  this  extraordinary  estimate  of  profits 
to  Mr.  Cornell.  Mr.  Cornell's  purpose  in  incorporat- 
ing a  company,  the  object  of  which  was  to  administer 
these  lands,  with  special  facilities  for  manufacturing 
lumber,  was  stated  to  be  to  dispose  of  them  to  the  com- 
pany for  a  limited  sum,  and  secure  for  his  family  the 
profits,  amounting  to  twenty-three  millions  of  dollars. 
Mr.  Cornell 's  gift  of  half  a  million  of  dollars  to  endow 
the  university  was  in  effect  fraudulent,  as  he  had  never 
paid  the  sum,  but  only  deposited  stock  of  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company  to  guarantee  such  payment. 
This  effort  to  secure,  by  a  permanent  article  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  state,  a  provision  which  would 
render  sacred  these  funds  which  the  state  had  received 
from  the  national  government,  and  which  it  had  sol- 
emnly pledged  itself  to  maintain  at  their  par  value, 
making  up  all  losses  which  might  arise  in  its  adminis- 
tration, was  stated  to  be  one  of  the  most  stupendous 
jobs  ever  originated  against  the  rights  of  the  agricul- 
tural and  mechanical  population  of  the  state.  Mr. 
Cornell,  in  a  dignified  letter,  reviewed  the  charge  and 
vindicated  the  nobility  and  purity  of  his  motives,  as 
well  as  his  generosity.  He  showed  that  every  negotia- 
tion for  the  sale  of  the  land  had  been  undertaken  in 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     109 

the  interests  of  the  university,  and  that  the  sale  had 
yielded  for  the  university  far  more  than  it  otherwise 
would  have  done ;  that  these  sales  had  been  authorized 
by  the  Land  Office  of  the  state,  and  all  returns  had 
been  paid  over  to  the  state,  in  many  cases  without 
passing  through  his  hands ;  that  all  the  land  scrip  had 
been  sold  or  accounted  for ;  and  that,  instead  of  making 
a  charge  against  the  state  for  locating  the  lands  pay- 
able out  of  this  fund,  he  had  incurred  an  expense  of 
more  than  $200,000  in  selecting  lands,  fees  for  entering 
the  same,  taxes,  interest,  and  the  various  expenses  that 
were  involved  in  such  undertaking,  and  that  the  state 
was  in  no  wise  responsible  for  what  he  had  expended. 
If  repayment  were  ever  made  to  him,  it  would  come 
from  the  increased  profits  upon  the  sale  of  the  land, 
but  the  actual  market  value  of  the  land  when  donated 
to  Cornell  University  was  secured  to  the  state  by  his 
bond.  "  Feeling  a  deep  interest  in  the  question  of 
practical  education  in  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts,  for  which  this  fund  was  voted  by  Congress,  I  vol- 
unteered to  undertake  to  create  a  fund  three  or  four 
times  as  large  as  that  which  the  state  could  produce 
for  the  same  object  that  Congress  intended,  and,  at  my 
own  request  and  expense,  without  charging  a  single 
dime  to  anybody  for  my  services.  And  this  I  under- 
took for  the  Cornell  University  only  after  the  friends 
and  founders  of  other  colleges  declined  to  join  a  united 
effort,  in  which  I  proposed  to  be  responsible  for  one- 
tenth  of  the  risk  and  expense  of  creating  this  larger 
sum  for  the  endowment  of  those  colleges.  This  is  all 
there  is  of  it;  this  is  the  sum  total  of  my  offending. 
Whether  it  will  realize  as  much  or  more  than  I  antici- 
pated, whether  it  is  three  millions  or  thirty  millions, 
it  will  be  all  paid  over  to  the  comptroller  of  the  state 
of  New  York  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  agree- 
ment, and  the  state  of  New  York  will  appropriate  the 


no     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

proceeds  of  the  fund  as  stipulated  in  the  bond,  whether 
the  fund  is  protected  by  the  organic  law  of  the  Consti- 
tution or  not. ' '  Misconceptions  of  his  motives  and  in- 
gratitude for  the  services  which  he  had  rendered  the 
state  did  not  induce  Mr.  Cornell  to  swerve  from  his 
generous  and  self-sacrificing  purpose.  Of  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's answer  to  this  charge,  the  Hon.  William  Kelly 
wrote :  ' '  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  gratifi- 
cation with  the  style  and  matter  of  your  letter  to  the 
Rochester  Union.  It  is  so  simple  in  style,  so  direct,  so 
able,  so  conclusive,  as  to  fully  meet  my  hopes.  I  am 
delighted  with  it.  No  sensible  man  will  again  assail 
you  as  to  your  management  of  the  finances  of  the 
university  or  your  motives  of  action.  Your  vindi- 
cation from  the  slanderous  charges  is  complete  and 
final." 

The  unselfishness  of  Mr.  Cornell's  services  in  behalf 
of  the  university  had  not  attained  a  final  vindication 
with  this  letter.  In  1873  a  bill  was  presented  in  the 
legislature  to  facilitate  a  settlement  between  Ezra 
Cornell  and  the  state  with  reference  to  the  college  land 
grant.  Charges  were  made  in  the  debate,  by  a  polit- 
ical opponent  of  Mr.  Cornell,  of  breach  of  trust  in  the 
execution  of  his  contract  with  the  state,  of  using  the 
power  entrusted  to  him  to  add  to  his  own  wealth,  of 
not  depositing  with  the  state  comptroller  adequate 
bonds  and  securities,  and  that  the  university  as  admin- 
istered did  not  comply  with  the  conditions  of  the  law 
under  which  it  was  established.  Mr.  Cornell  re- 
quested promptly  that  a  committee  be  authorized  by 
the  legislature,  and  appointed  by  the  governor,  the 
Hon.  John  A.  Dix,  a  majority  of  which  should  consist 
of  members  of  the  party  opposed  to  him  in  politics,  to 
investigate  the  whole  question;  whether  the  laws  for 
the  sale  and  disposition  of  the  college  lands  had  been 
complied  with,  whether  the  securities  received  for  its 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     111 

sale  were  adequate,  what  contracts  had  been  made  and 
upon  what  terms,  the  value  of  the  lands  held  by  Mr, 
Cornell  in  behalf  of  the  university,  what  charges  had 
been  made  for  his  services,  whether  the  law  of  Con- 
gress had  been  complied  with  by  the  university,  and 
to  report  upon  the  present  condition  of  the  same.  A 
commission  of  the  highest  character  was  appointed  to 
conduct  this  inquiry,  consisting  of  the  Hon.  Horatio 
Seymour,  former  governor  of  the  state,  the  Hon.  Will- 
iam A.  Wheeler,  later  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  Hon.  John  D.  Van  Buren.  The  report 
of  this  commission,  which  was  presented  after  a  most 
thorough  and  comprehensive  investigation,  was  a  noble 
tribute  to  Mr.  Cornell's  integrity,  his  lofty  purpose,  his 
almost  unparalleled  generosity  and  sacrifice  in  behalf 
of  the  university,  as  well  as  to  the  sagacity  which  had 
reserved  this  part  of  the  national  land  grant  and  made 
it  possible  to  realize,  as  no  other  state  had  done,  the 
objects  of  the  law.  Changes  in  detail  of  the  form  of 
the  financial  relations  of  the  university  to  the  state 
were  suggested,  with  the  view  of  the  absolute  protec- 
tion of  the  land  grant  fund,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
securing  facility  of  administration  in  the  sale  of  the 
land  by  Mr.  Cornell.  The  commission  was  divided 
upon  the  question  whether  the  state  or  the  university 
was  the  owner  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  lands 
above  the  sum  at  which  it  had  been  purchased  by  Mr. 
Cornell.  The  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  the  minority  of 
the  commission,  held  that  all  such  proceeds  constituted 
a  personal  gift  of  Mr.  Cornell  to  the  university,  and 
were  not  subject  to  the  conditions  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress, a  view  afterward  sustained  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court. 

Mr.  Cornell's  adherence  to  his  conviction  of  the  final 
value  of  the  land  to  the  university  was  often  not  re- 
ceived kindly  by  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 


112     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

who  desired  to  realize  at  once  the  whole  of  the  endow- 
ment and  did  not  share  Mr.  Cornell's  faith.  One  of 
the  most  influential  trustees,  weary  with  the  appar- 
ently hopeless  struggle  against  debt  and  the  delay  in 
realizing  the  beautiful  hopes  with  which  the  uni- 
versity opened,  wrote,  December  5,  1872 :  '  *  Better 
a  million  added  to  our  endowment  now  than  three 
millions  five  or  ten  years  hence.  The  only  way  is 
to  go  on  developing  rapidly,  showing  that  we  are 
strong  and  progressive  and  do  not  ask  favors  before 
the  favors  come.  Then  men  think  it  an  honor  to  give. 
We  must  go  ahead  promptly.  We  must  show  that  we 
are  not  standing  still ;  that  we  are  not  looking  forward 
vaguely;  but  that  we  know  what  we  want  and  are 
marching  straight  toward  it.  Then  gifts  will  come. 
Then  it  will  be  worthy  of  any  man 's  ambition  to  aid  in 
developing  our  plans.  To  push  on  vigorously  now  is 
to  conquer.  To  work  slowly  until  our  active  men  get 
sleepy  and  easy-going  is  not  what  we  ought  to  do.  I 
want  to  see  the  Cornell  University  the  foremost  in  the 
land  during  our  lifetime;  it  can  be  so,  but  only  by 
prompt,  vigorous  strengthening  and  extension.  Most 
earnestly,  I  say,  if  you  can  lop  off  the  lands  at  a  million 
and  a  half,  or  even  less,  I  think  it  wise  policy  to  do  it. 
The  simple  reason  why  we  do  not  call  Tyndall  and 
other  distinguished  non-resident  professors  is  because 
we  cannot  afford  it.  Our  other  necessities  have  forced 
us  to  cut  off  to  a  large  extent  that  part  of  our  original 
scheme.  Now  is  the  time  to  go  on  promptly  with  our 
policy.  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick.  Cure 
us  by  allowing  us  to  spring  ahead  and  to  go  on  vigor- 
ously and  promptly,  and  let  our  university  soon  stand 
beside  the  greatest  universities  of  the  world,  and  for 
the  conflict  in  which  we  shall  triumph."  Had  the 
course  here  advised  been  adopted,  it  would  have  limited 
the  growth  of  the  university  forever,  and  it  would  have 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     113 


taken  its  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  small  and  imper- 
fectly endowed  colleges.  Mr.  Cornell  possessed  that 
quality  of  mind  that  could  wait  for  results,  having 
faith  that  the  future  would  realize  his  far-seeing 
plans. 

While  the  gift  to  New  York  was  only  a  little  more 
than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  entire  grant,  through  the 
sagacity  and  devotion  of  Mr.  Cornell  and  the  wise  ad- 
ministration of  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage  the  grant  to  the 
state  of  New  York  has  realized  about  forty  per  cent, 
of  the  entire  sum  produced  by  the  national  land  grant 
act.  In  states  the  population  of  which  was  small  and 
the  land  grant  badly  managed,  the  income  of  the  sum 
realized  was  hardly  sufficient  to  support  a  single  pro- 
fessor in  agriculture.  The  state  of  Rhode  Island  ob- 
tained about  $50,000  from  its  grant.  New  Hampshire 
$80,000,  Nebraska  $39,504,  and  the  great  state  of  Ohio 
only  $342,450.^  Cornell  University  has  realized  up  to 
the  present  time  an  average  of  over  seven  dollars  per 
acre  for  its  lands.  Only  a  few  states  have  obtained 
an  approximate  sum.  California  received  $5.14,  Kan- 
sas $5.57,  Minnesota  $4.39,  Iowa  $2.70,  Michigan  $2.50, 
and  all  other  states  less  than  $2.00  per  acre  for  their 
lands.  This  is  certainly  a  splendid  tribute  to  the 
vision  of  one  man.  It  was  natural  that  the  utter  in- 
adequacy of  these  sums  to  realize  in  any  considerable 
degree  the  purposes  of  the  land  grant  should  cause 
repeated  efforts  to  be  made  to  induce  Congress  to  in- 
crease the  fund  which  had  been  originally  bestowed. 
There  were  earnest  advocates  in  Congress  of  such  an 
increased  grant,  but  the  enormous  indebtedness  resting 
upon  the  country  at  the  close  of  the  war  made  it  diffi- 
cult to  secure  action  to  appropriate  the  income  of 
the  sale  of  public  lands,  which  was  needed  to  pay  the 

'  See  History  of  the  Agricultural  College  Land  Grant  of  July  2,  1862, 
by  S.  D.  Halliday  and  W.  A.  Finch.     Ithaca,  1890. 


114     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

national  debt.  Such  a  bill  was  introduced  by  Senator 
Morgan  of  New  York,  in  1872,  but  failed  to  pass,  and 
it  was  not  until  the  passage  of  the  so-called  Hatch  Act 
in  1887  that  any  considerable  addition  was  made  to  the 
funds  of  these  colleges. 


CHAPTEE  VII 

THE    FIRST    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY,    THE 
HON.    ANDREW    DICKSON    WHITE 

THE  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White,  LL.  D.,  the  first 
president  of  the  university,  was  born  in 
Homer,  N.  Y.,  November  7,  1832.  After 
spending  one  year  in  Hobart,  he  entered  Yale 
College,  where  he  spent  the  last  three  j^ears  of  his  col- 
lege course,  graduating  in  the  class  of  1853.  Mr. 
White  won  distinction  in  a  class  noted  for  its  brilliant 
members.  He  received  prizes  in  English  essays,  and 
was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Yale  Literary  Magazine. 
Upon  graduation,  he  obtained  the  De  Forest  Gold 
Medal,  one  of  the  most  coveted  honors  of  an  under- 
graduate course,  for  an  oration  upon  ' '  The  Diplomatic 
History  of  Modern  Times,"  thus  prefiguring  the  field 
to  which  his  life  was  to  be  devoted.  This  interesting 
address  was  reprinted  in  the  Era,  October  14,  1872. 

Among  his  classmates  were  many  who  afterwards 
became  distinguished,  including  E.  C.  Stedman,  the 
poet;  Henry  C.  Robinson,  attornej^  of  Connecticut; 
Bishop  Theodore  F.  Davis  of  Michigan;  Senator  Gib- 
son of  Louisiana;  Wayne  MacVeagh,  United  States 
Attorney-General  and  minister  to  Italy,  and  George 
Shiras,  judge  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 
After  graduation  he  went  abroad,  where  he  spent  three 
years  in  travel  and  study.  He  resided  longest  in 
Paris,  where  he  heard  lectures  at  the  Sorbonne,  pursu- 
ing with  ardor  the  study  of  French  history,  in  which 
subject  his  lectures  have  always  possessed  an  especial 
interest.    He  was  a  member  for  a  few  months  of  the 

115 


116     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

official  family  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Seymour,  United 
States  minister  to  St.  Petersburg,  during  the  exciting 
events  associated  with  the  Crimean  War,  where  he  ob- 
tained some  glimpse  of  diplomatic  affairs  and  of  polit- 
ical and  court  life.  In  1855  and  1856  he  attended  lec- 
tures upon  history  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  He 
also  traveled  extensively  through  Europe.  In  inter- 
vals of  other  work  he  inspected  the  archives  of  France, 
and  studied  on  the  spot  nearly  every  great  event  of  the 
Revolution.  He  also  made  several  journeys  through 
various  parts  of  France,  including  excursions  on  foot 
through  Picardy,  Normandy,  Brittany,  Touraine,  and 
the  borders  of  La  Vendee,  during  which  he  conversed 
with  many  who  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of  those 
great  events.  He  says:  "  While  thus  satisfying  my 
love  for  a  study  which  has  fascinated  me,  I  have  hoped 
to  do  something  to  counteract  the  influence  of  preju- 
diced English  historians  and  the  American  dilutions  of 
their  works,  and  to  give  that  view  of  the  struggle  which, 
so  far  from  disheartening  young  men,  will  strengthen 
their  faith  and  hope." 

Upon  Mr.  White's  return  in  1856  he  spent  a  year  in 
advanced  study  at  Yale.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
elected  professor  of  history  and  English  literature  in 
the  University  of  Michigan,  which  position  he  held 
from  1857  to  1862.  His  large  business  interests  re- 
called him  to  Syracuse,  where,  after  a  second  period 
of  foreign  travel,  he  resumed  his  residence.  He  was 
twice  elected  a  state  senator  from  that  district,  serving 
from  1864  to  1867.  His  connection  with  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan  was,  however,  from  this  time  merely 
nominal ;  after  giving  up  the  regular  duties  of  his  pro- 
fessorship he  occasionally  delivered  a  few  lectures. 
His  residence  there  was  a  most  fruitful  period  in  his 
educational  experience.  Michigan  University  was  at 
that  time  under  the  intelligent  direction  of  President 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     117 

Tappan,  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  progressive  ad- 
ministrators whom  this  country  has  produced.  The 
independence  of  a  state  university,  which  had  received 
enduring  form  under  the  moulding  hand  of  the  first 
superintendent  of  instruction,  the  Rev.  John  B.  Pierce, 
although  hampered  at  times  by  political  interference, 
attracted  Mr.  White.  President  Tappan 's  views  of 
the  relation  of  the  university  to  the  school  system  of 
the  state,  as  the  crown  of  higher  public  education,  were 
exemplified  in  the  organization  of  the  schools.  Presi- 
dent Tappan  maintained  that  scientific  learning  had  a 
right  to  compare,  in  modern  education,  with  ancient 
learning.  Views  which  Mr.  White  later  incorporated 
into  the  constitution  of  Cornell  University  were  seen 
here  in  practice,  where  their  effects  could  be  measured. 
President  White  himself  said  in  an  address  in  Ann 
Arbor  that  Cornell  was  the  daughter  of  Michigan  Uni- 
versity. Mr.  White,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
literature  in  the  Senate  of  New  York,  was  an  efficient 
agent  in  aiding  his  colleague,  Mr.  Ezra  Cornell,  to 
secure  the  Land  Grant  for  this  university.  Indeed,  we 
may  say  that  Mr.  White  made  definite  the  plans  of  Mr. 
Cornell,  and  that  the  original  purpose  of  the  latter  to 
found  an  industrial  institution  was  expanded  under 
Mr.  White's  advocacy,  so  as  to  include  a  university. 
Mr.  White's  strong  faith,  that  the  one  great  opportu- 
nity for  the  establishment  of  a  university  in  the  state 
of  New  York  worthy  of  the  name  had  come  with  the 
National  Grant,  and  that,  by  preserving  this  gift  in  its 
integrity,  the  cause  of  higher  education  would  be  pro- 
moted and  its  success  achieved,  determined  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's views  upon  this  important  subject. 

Mr.  White  was  elected  a  trustee  of  the  university  at 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  held  April 
28,  1865.  At  the  request  of  Mr.  Cornell  he  drew  up  a 
proposed  plan  of  organization,  which  was  presented  to 


118     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  trustees  on  October  21,  1866,  at  the  same  meeting 
at  which  he  was  elected  president  of  the  new  univer- 
sity. About  this  time  the  directorship  of  the  School 
of  Fine  Arts  at  Yale  was  offered  to  Mr.  White,  but 
declined. 

Mr.  White's  influence  during  his  term  of  senatorial 
service  was  of  great  value.  In  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  he  was  independent,  and  brought  a  knowledge 
of  the  world  and  a  study  of  political  institutions  to 
bear  which  was  unusual  in  legislation.  His  influence 
in  extending  the  system  of  normal  schools  throughout 
the  state  was  felt,  and  one  or  two  addresses  which  he 
delivered,  in  which  he  discussed  national  questions, 
were  vigorous  defenses  of  Republican  principles.  The 
address  in  which  he  advocated  withdrawing  the  Na- 
tional Grant  from  the  People's  College  and  bestowing 
it  upon  Cornell  University  was  an  able  defense  of  the 
proposed  legislative  action,  and  exerted  a  marked  in- 
fluence. After  the  close  of  his  duties  as  state  senator, 
President  White  went  abroad  in  the  summer  of  1868 
for  a  few  months  in  order  to  execute  numerous  orders 
from  the  trustees  for  the  purchase  of  scientific  appara- 
tus, books,  and  maps  for  the  university,  and  also  to 
visit  various  schools  of  applied  science.  During  this 
visit  Professor  Goldwin  Smith  decided  to  come  to 
Ithaca  to  reside  during  his  proposed  visit  to  America, 
and  Dr.  James  Law  was  secured  as  professor  of  vet- 
erinary science.  Mr.  White  retained  his  residence  in 
Syracuse  for  the  first  four  years  after  the  opening  of 
the  university,  until  the  completion  of  the  president's 
mansion  on  the  university  grounds  in  the  autumn  of 
1872.  During  this  time,  while  residing  in  Ithaca,  he 
occupied  rooms  in  Cascadilla  Place,  which  was  the 
center  of  official  as  well  as  of  social  life.  His  diversi- 
fied interests  often  called  him  away  from  the  university 
in  those  early  years,  and  the  immediate  administration 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     119 


devolved  in  his  absence  upon  the  vice-president.    In 
1871   President  White   was   appointed  by   President 
Grant  one  of  the  United  States  commissioners  to  San 
Domingo  to  report  upon  the  expediency  of  the  annexa- 
tion of  that  island;  in  1876  he  received  a  leave  of  ab- 
sence from  the  university  for  the  purpose  of  visiting 
Europe,  and  was  absent  until  the  autumn  of  1878,  dur- 
ing which  year  he  was  a  commissioner  to  the  Paris 
Exposition,  and,  at  its  close,  received  the  cross  of  Com- 
mander of  the  Legion  of  Honor.    His  return  was  wel- 
comed by  the  entire  student-world  by  processions  and 
an  address.     President  Wliite  remained  in  Ithaca  until 
the  spring  of  the  following  year,  when,  in  April,  he 
was  appointed  as  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  to   Germany.     He  sailed  from  New 
York,  May  7,  1879.     Mr.  White  was  well  qualified  to 
represent  the  United  States  at  a  foreign  court.    His 
acquaintance  with  European  history  and  life  and  his 
social  gifts  attracted  to  his  house  the  most  accom- 
plished scholars  and  artists  of  the  capital,  and  his 
broad  and  genial  sympathy  with  literary  men  made  his 
residence  a  center  of  charming  social  intercourse  and 
hospitality.     In  the  autumn  of  1881  President  White 
again  assumed  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  president 
of  the  university  and  resided  continuously  in  Ithaca 
until  the  date  of  his  resignation,  in  June,  1885. 

The  early  interest  of  President  White  in  historical 
study,  which  was  exhibited  during  his  college  life,  has 
continued  until  the  present  time.  His  favorite  depart- 
ment is  the  history  of  European  culture  since  the  dawn 
of  the  Renaissance.  He  has  devoted  most  attention  to 
French  and  German  history,  especially  to  the  period 
of  the  Protestant  Reformation  and  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. He  has  collected  a  rare  and  extensive  library, 
possibly  not  surpassed  in  America,  upon  these  periods. 
The  formative  ideas  which  determined  the  early  char- 


120     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

acter  of  the  university  are  largely  due  to  President 
White.  He  was  fertile  in  theories,  and  active  in  in- 
vestigating various  courses  of  study  and  systems  of 
education  both  in  this  country  and  abroad.  To  him 
belongs  undoubtedly  the  credit  of  advocating,  even  if 
he  did  not  originate,  many  of  the  views  which  prevail 
in  modern  university  education.  Among  these  we  may 
mention  the  importance  of  history,  especially  of  Ameri- 
can history,  and  of  modern  languages,  both  as  a  means 
of  culture  and  for  scientific  investigation;  he  has  ad- 
vocated instruction  in  sociology,  and  in  free  trade  and 
protection  he  has  urged  that  both  sides  shall  be  rep- 
resented by  their  ablest  advocates;  also  maintaining 
the  equal  value  for  intellectual  training  of  parallel 
courses  of  study,  and  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
industrial  education  to  the  nation.  He  has  insisted 
upon  the  superior  value  of  Latin  for  the  general  stu- 
dent above  Greek.  He  has  also  been  an  earnest  advo- 
cate of  the  improvements  of  the  secondary  schools 
throughout  the  state.  Freedom  in  the  choice  of 
studies  has  been  a  prominent  characteristic  of  the  uni- 
versity from  the  beginning.  The  solution  of  the  con- 
flict in  regard  to  classics  he  found  in  the  establishment 
of  definite  parallel  courses,  such  as  have  been  adopted 
in  this  university. 

If  a  certain  native  disinclination  to  the  details  of  ex- 
ecutive duties,  an  impetuosity  and  personal  element  in 
the  solution  of  vital  questions,  were  manifest  in  admin- 
istration, so  many  beautiful  and  generous  traits  were 
revealed,  and  so  much  personal  thoughtfulness,  as  to 
preserve  the  enduring  affection  of  his  colleagues.  He 
loved  to  gather  his  friends  in  his  home,  which  was  the 
center  of  delightful  literary  and  social  intercourse ;  his 
large  library  was  open  to  the  use  of  the  poorest  stu- 
dents without  hesitation,  and  there  was  no  case  of  dis- 
tress in  the  university  world  that  did  not  appeal  to  him. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     121 

The  position  of  dean  of  the  School  of  History  and 
Political  Science  was  offered  to  President  White  upon 
its  establishment  in  1887,  but  he  declined  the  honor. 
In  1892  he  received  again  the  honor  of  a  foreign  diplo- 
matic position.  President  Harrison  appointed  him 
minister  to  the  court  of  St.  Petersburg,  which  position 
he  filled  for  two  years.  In  1896-97  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Venezuelan  Commission,  to  which  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Cleveland.  In  1897  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  McKinley  as  embassador  to  Ger- 
many. He  resigned  this  position  in  November,  1902, 
upon  reaching  the  age  of  seventy,  in  pursuance  of  a 
purpose  previously  formed.  During  his  period  of 
residence  at  the  German  court  Mr.  White  enjoyed  the 
friendship  of  the  Emperor,  and  received,  upon  taking 
leave,  a  valuable  gift  as  an  expression  of  the  imperial 
favor. 

He  is  a  regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  at 
Washington,  and  has  been  president  of  the  American 
Social  Science  Association,  and  of  the  American  His- 
torical Society.  His  published  works  consist  of  numer- 
ous essays,  addresses,  and  speeches',  also  of  The  War- 
fare of  Science  (1876),  and  History  of  the  Warfare  of 
Science  with  Theology  in  Christendom  (1897),  an 
elaborate  work  in  two  volumes. 

Dr.  White  was  president  of  the  American  Commis- 
sion  of  the  Peace  Congress  at  The  Hague,  in  1899, 
and  commissioner  of  the  state  of  New  York  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  of  1878.  He  received  a  tender  and 
grateful  welcome  from  the  members  of  the  numerous 
classes  who  returned  to  their  reunions  at  Commence- 
ment, 1904,  most  of  whom  had  studied  here  during 
his  presidency.  All  former  students  and  friends  of 
the  university  are  grateful  that  he  is  to  take  up  his 
residence  here  again,  where  his  presence,  his  friend- 
ship and  counsels  contribute  to  the  academic  life.     Mr. 


122     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

White  has  presented  to  the  university  numerous  works 
upon  art,  medallions,  and  manuscripts.  Upon  the 
completion  of  the  Sage  Library,  Mr.  White  transferred 
to  it  his  own  valuable  historical  library,  consisting  of 
19,300  volumes.  In  order  to  secure  the  development 
of  the  studies  of  history  and  political  science,  in  which 
he  was  especially  interested,  he  made  as  a  condition  of 
this  gift  the  establishment  and  support  by  the  univer- 
sity of  a  School  of  History  and  Political  Science,  and 
also  that  it  should  maintain  fellowships  in  these  sub- 
jects and  defray  the  salary  of  a  librarian  of  the  White 
Library  and  the  cost  of  the  publication  of  a  catalogue 
of  the  library. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Fundamental   Ideas 

1.  the  liberal  education  of  the  industrial  classes. 
2.  the  equal  recognition  of  the  classes  ;  modern 
languages  and  science  as  instruments  of  cul- 
ture. 3.  the  elective  system.  4.  non-resident 
lectures 

jAT  the  second  meeting  of  the  trustees,  held  in 
/%  Albany,  September  5,  1865,  Mr.  Andrew  D. 
/ — %  White  was  appointed  a  committee  to  draft 
-^  -^^  by-laws.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  his 
election  to  the  presidency  was  at  this  time  contem- 
plated, although  it  is  possible,  and  under  this  modest 
title  of  ' '  by-laws ' '  the  elaborate  report  on  organization 
was  included.  At  the  fourth  meeting  of  the  trustees, 
held  in  the  Cornell  Library,  October  21,  1866,  this 
report  was  presented.  As  Mr.  White  was  unanimously 
elected  president  of  Cornell  University  at  this  meeting, 
his  report  has  an  authoritative  value  as  embodying  the 
fundamental  ideas  which,  in  his  judgment,  should  de- 
termine the  form  and  scope  of  the  new  university. 
While  criticising  at  times  established  views,  it  de- 
fended the  plan  of  instruction  which  the  new  institu- 
tion of  learning  was  to  illustrate.  In  surveying  these 
views  after  the  lapse  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  since 
the  opening  of  the  university,  and  in  comparison  with 
the  methods  and  subjects  of  instruction  which  pre- 
vailed at  that  time,  we  must  recognize  their  freshness, 
their  catholicity,  their  sympathy  with  all  learning  and, 
at  the  same  time,  their  powerful  advocacy  of  the  new 
education,    which    gave    prominence    to    the    natural 

123 


124     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

sciences,  the  study  of  history  and  the  fine  arts,  as  well 
as  of  applied  science.  There  was  also  an  appreciation 
of  past  learning,  such  as  we  might  expect  from  a 
scholar  whose  special  study  had  been  directed  to  the 
history  of  culture,  and  the  forces  which  constitute 
modern  society.  Elective  studies  in  modern  languages 
and  in  science,  in  place  of  classical  and  mathematical, 
had  been  introduced  in  various  institutions.  Much  that 
was  announced  as  to  be  tested  in  the  new  university 
has  since  become  characteristic  of  modern  education. 
Much  that  was  incorporated  in  the  original  plan  had 
been  the  subject  of  solitary  advocacy,  and  even  of  agi- 
tation. The  success  of  the  ideas  which  lay  at  the  basis 
of  the  university  was  due  to  the  sagacity  with  which 
the  importance  of  the  new  branches  of  study,  and  the 
demands  of  modern  life  upon  a  new  institution  of 
learning,  were  recognized.  To  embody  in  a  new  uni- 
versity new  views  of  education  was  far  easier  than  to 
modify  the  conservative  courses  of  study  which  were 
enthroned  in  the  older  institutions.  Some  features  in 
the  proposed  university  were  personal  to  the  author 
of  the  plan  of  organization,  others  had  been  tested  suc- 
cessfully in  institutions  of  narrower  scope.  The  union 
and  equality  of  various  branches  of  study  in  classical 
and  modern  literature  and  science  in  one  university, 
and  a  recognition  of  the  equal  importance  in  society 
and  modern  life  of  applied  science,  were  the  striking 
features  in  the  new  university.  In  the  national  and 
state  legislation  which  formed  the  charter  of  the 
university,  and  in  the  views  of  the  founder,  two 
convictions  were  prominent:  first,  the  need  of  thor- 
ough education  in  various  special  departments, 
among  them  the  science  and  practice  of  agriculture, 
of  industrial  mechanics,  and  kindred  departments 
of  study,  to  realize  which  institutions  should  be 
founded   with   every   appliance    for   discovering   and 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     125 

diffusing  truth, — that  such  instruction  should  not  be 
subordinate  to  any  other,  and  that  the  agricultural  and 
industrial  professions  should  be  regarded  as  the  peers 
of  every  other.  At  the  same  time,  the  liberal  edu- 
cation of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits 
and  professions  in  life  should  be  included.  The  second 
of  these  convictions  was  that  the  system  of  collegiate 
instruction,  now  dominant,  leaves  unsatisfied  the  wants 
of  a  very  large  number,  and  perhaps  of  the  majority  of 
those  who  desire  an  advanced  general  education;  that 
although  there  are  great  numbers  of  noble  men  doing 
noble  work  in  the  existing  system,  it  has  devoted  its 
strength  and  machinery  mainly  to  a  single  combination 
of  studies,  into  which  comparatively  few  enter  heart- 
ily; that,  where  more  latitude  in  study  has  been  pro- 
vided for,  all  courses  outside  of  the  single  traditional 
one  have  been  considered  to  imply  a  lower  caste  in 
those  taking  them.  General  education  has,  therefore, 
lost  its  hold  upon  the  majority  of  trusted  leaders  of 
society,  and  become  underestimated  and  distrusted  by 
a  majority  of  the  people  at  large,  and,  therefore,  neg- 
lected by  a  majority  of  our  young  men  of  energy  and 
ability.  To  meet  this  need  it  was  held  that  colleges 
of  wider  scope  should  be  founded ;  that  no  single  course 
should  be  insisted  upon  for  all  alike ;  that  various  com- 
binations of  studies  should  be  provided  to  meet  the 
need  of  various  minds  and  different  aims.  It  was 
proposed  to  divide  the  university  into  two  great  parts, 
the  first  of  which  should  comprise  departments  de- 
voted to  special  sciences  and  arts.  This  was  to  in- 
clude agriculture,  the  mechanic  arts,  civil  engineering, 
commerce  and  trade,  mining,  medicine  and  surgery, 
law,  jurisprudence,  political  science  and  history,  and 
education.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  departments  of 
law  and  medicine  are  included  in  the  original  plan,  and 
that  jurisprudence  is  not  included  under  the  depart- 


126     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ment  of  law,  but  was  evidently  to  be  treated  histor- 
ically, and  is,  therefore,  grouped  with  history  and  po- 
litical science.  The  second  division  was  to  embrace 
science,  literature,  and  the  arts  in  general,  and  was  to 
include  a  "  first  general  course,"  corresponding  to  the 
classical  course  in  other  colleges;  a  "  second  general 
course,"  in  which  Latin  was  to  be  retained  and  Ger- 
man substituted  for  Greek,  corresponding  to  the  course 
which  bore  later  the  name  of  the  course  in  "  philos- 
ophy." The  ''  third  general  course  "  embraced 
French  and  German  instead  of  Latin  and  Greek.  At 
this  time  few  institutions  exalted  English  literature  and 
philology  to  rank  as  a  study  equal  to  that  of  foreign 
literature,  and  no  provision  was  made  for  it.  To  these 
courses  a  scientific  course  and  an  optional  course  were 
added.  The  latter  course  was  practical,  and  permis- 
sion was  granted  to  properly  qualified  students  to 
choose  such  courses  of  study  as  they  were  prepared  to 
pursue, ' '  in  order  to  give  to  the  student  full  and  entire 
freedom  in  the  selection  of  studies,  and  freedom  every- 
where equal  to  that  which  prevails  in  the  universities 
of  continental  Europe." 

A  committee  of  the  trustees  of  the  University  of 
Rochester  had  reported  as  early  as  1850  in  favor  of 
*'  the  development  of  individual  tastes  and  tendencies 
and  some  degree  of  choice  with  reference  to  the  calling 
which  the  student  has  in  mind."  The  question  of  a 
fixed  curriculum  and  freedom  of  election  of  studies 
was  raised  later  by  Dr.  Martin  B.  Anderson,  in  his 
inaugural  address  as  president  of  the  University  of 
Rochester  on  ' '  The  End  and  Means  of  a  Liberal  Edu- 
cation. ' '  Two  parallel  courses  of  study — one  classical, 
leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  one 
scientific,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science 
— were  then  established;  also,  an  elective  course  for 
students  who  were  not  candidates  for  a  degree.     This 


< 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     127 

report  is  one  of  the  notable  documents  in  the  history  of 
education  in  New  York.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in 
connection  with  this  report  that  President  Anderson 
was  the  first  choice  of  Dr.  White  for  the  presidency  of 
Cornell  University. 

Special  students  were  those  who  desired  to  pursue 
a  definite  line  of  study,  as  mathematics  or  chemistry, 
under  the  direction  of  a  professor  having  charge  of  a 
department.  A  student  who  had  spent  the  requisite 
time  at  the  university  and  passed  the  proper  number 
of  trimestrial  examinations  was  to  be  permitted  to 
apply  for  a  degree,  which  should  bear  a  relation  to  the 
character  of  the  subjects  which  he  had  pursued.  If 
his  studies  were,  in  the  judgment  of  the  faculty,  equiva- 
lent to  either  of  the  general  courses,  he  could  receive 
one  of  the  usual  baccalaureate  degrees.  Soon  after 
the  opening  of  the  university,  the  general  courses  were 
arranged  in  the  order  of  scientific,  philosophical,  and 
arts,  and  the  third  general  course  based  upon  the 
modern  languages  was  dropped.  Four  special  or  tech- 
nical courses  were  recommended,  viz.,  agriculture,  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  civil  and  mining  engineering.  To 
these  were  added  courses  in  chemistry  and  natural  his- 
tory, for  all  of  which  courses  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Science  was  to  be  given. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  ability  of  students  entering 
upon  a  course  of  study,  to  choose  wisely  amid  a  multi- 
plicity of  courses  those  subjects  best  suited  to  their  in- 
tellectual tastes  and  future  needs,  the  report  argues: 
The  failure  of  college  men  of  the  highest  standing  in 
practical  life  is  due  to  the  existing  system,  but  while 
the  student  may  not  be  a  perfect  judge  of  the  relative 
worth  of  the  studies  from  which  he  may  choose,  or  of 
their  importance  to  him,  his  judgment  still  possesses 
value ;  and  an  overwhelming  majority  of  students  are 
competent  to  choose  between  different  courses  of  study 


128     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

carefully  arranged.  By  the  advice  of  older  friends 
and  the  faculty  of  the  university,  a  young  man  ought 
to  be  able  to  make  a  choice  based  upon  his  previous 
education  and  means  of  future  education,  upon  his 
tastes,  position,  and  ambition.  No  results  could  be 
more  wretched  than  those  of  the  existing  system. 

The  plan  of  organization  here  proposed  would  make 
possible  a  practically  unlimited  number  of  courses, 
based  upon  a  choice  of  the  student  or  the  advice  of 
some  individual.  The  report  assumes  competency  on 
the  part  of  mere  beginners  in  knowledge,  whose  powers 
are  but  imperfectly  developed,  who  have  as  yet  no 
vision  of  any  other  fields  of  knowledge,  the  goal  of 
whose  intellectual  life  is  not  clearly  defined,  and  whose 
future  is  in  most  cases  undetermined,  to  select  wisely 
and  well  among  the  variety  of  subjects  presented  in  a 
great  university.  With  adequate  knowledge  of  the 
subjects  necessary  for  their  highest  intellectual  train- 
ing and  development,  and  for  their  future  needs,  men 
of  the  highest  genius  have  frequently  failed  to  recog- 
nize where  they  were  strongest  until  late  in  life.  The 
old  education  rested  upon  the  harmonious  development 
of  all  the  powers  of  the  youthful  mind,  and  the  recog- 
nition of  the  varied  value  in  life  and  culture  of  a  sym- 
pathetic acquaintance  with  the  world's  knowledge. 
The  aim  of  education  was,  by  the  study  of  natural 
science,  to  teach  observation,  and  to  introduce  the  stu- 
dent to  a  knowledge  of  the  world  around  him ;  by  lan- 
guage, to  teach  accuracy  of  thought  and  expression, 
and  unlock  the  treasures  of  classical  and  modern  lit- 
eratures ;  by  history,  to  enable  him  to  know  something 
of  the  world's  intellectual,  religious,  and  political  de- 
velopment ;  by  the  study  of  the  science  of  the  mind,  to 
introduce  the  student  to  himself  and  to  his  immortal 
capacity  and  destiny;  by  mathematics,  to  make  ac- 
curate thinkers  and  to  show  something  of  the  methods 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     129 


of  investigation  into  the  laws  of  the  physical  universe. 
Even  if  some  students  were  silent  and  uninspired  in 
the  chamber  of  knowledge,  they  might  have  been 
equally  blind  and  insensible  had  their  choice  been  free 
but  limited  to  a  narrower  horizon,  for  in  many  cases 
they  would  be  obliged  to  choose  without  a  motive.  A 
self-direction,  which  is  possible  to  all, — indeed  essen- 
tial to  all  in  a  certain  stage  of  growth, — presupposes  a 
certain  preliminary  training  and  maturity,  and  is  only 
possible  when  it  is  the  flower  of  a  thorough  antecedent 
culture,  in  which  talent  as  well  as  taste  has  been 
developed. 

Upon  the  value  of  disciplinary  studies  the  views  of 
the  committee  are  characteristic  and  suggestive.    They 
advise  that  those  who  have  time  and  taste  for  the  study 
of  the  classics  should  continue  that  study,  the  Greek  for 
its  wonderful  perfection,  the  Latin  for  its  value  as  a 
key  to  the  modern  languages  and  to  the  nomenclature 
of  modern  science,  and  both  Greek  and  Latin  for  their 
value  in  the  cultivation  of  the  judgment.     The  modern 
languages  as  well  as  the  sciences,  which  in  recent  years 
have  attained  such  great  importance,  should  be  recog- 
nized at  their  full  value  in  imparting  instruction  and 
in  securing  mental  discipline.     The  idea  that  the  only 
mental   discipline   is   that  which  promotes   a  certain 
keenness  and  precision  of  mind  is  regarded  as  fal- 
lacious; there  is  another  kind  of  discipline  quite  as 
valuable — discipline   for   breadth   of  mind.     For   the 
former,  such  studies  as  mathematics  and  philology  are 
urged;  for  the  latter,  such  studies  as  history  and  lit- 
erature.    To  say  that  the  latter  are  not  disciplinary  is 
to  ignore  perhaps  the  most  important  part  of  dis- 
cipline.    In  American  life  there  will  always  be  enough 
keenness  and  sharpness  of  mind;  but  the  danger  is 
that  there  will  be  neglect  of  those  noble  studies  which 
enlarge  the  mental  horizon  and  increase  the  mental 


130     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


powers,  studies  which,  give  material  and  suggestions 
for  thought  upon  the  great  field  of  the  history  of  civili- 
zation. ' '  Discipline  comes  by  studies  which  are  loved, 
not  by  studies  which  are  loathed.  There  is  no  dis- 
cipline to  be  obtained  in  droning  over  studies.  Vigor- 
ous, energetic  study,  prompted  by  enthusiasm  or  a 
high  sense  of  the  value  of  the  subject,  is  the  only  study 
not  positively  hurtful  to  mental  power ;  hence  the  great 
evil  of  insisting  upon  the  same  curriculum  for  students 
regardless  of  their  tastes  or  plans."  It  is  not  clear 
what  mental  injury  is  anticipated  where  the  foregoing 
conditions  are  not  met,  as  it  is  suggested  rather  than 
stated. 

The  report  deals  elaborately  with  the  chairs  of  in- 
struction which  should  be  established,  and  concludes 
that  twenty-six  professorships  would  be  needed  at  an 
early  day.  These  professorships  were :  of  the  theory 
and  practice  of  agriculture,  agricultural  chemistry, 
veterinary  surgery  and  the  breeding  of  animals,  gen- 
eral and  analytical  chemistry,  botany,  zoology  and 
comparative  anatomy,  geology,  mineralogy,  physics  and 
industrial  mechanics,  mathematics,  astronomy,  civil 
engineering,  physiology,  hygiene  and  physical  culture, 
moral  and  physical  culture,  history,  political  economy, 
municipal  law,  constitutional  law,  rhetoric,  oratory 
and  vocal  culture,  the  English  language  and  literature, 
French  and  the  South  European  languages,  German 
and  the  North  European  languages,  the  ancient  lan- 
guages (to  be  divided  later  into  two  or  more  professor- 
ships, when  circumstances  shall  demand),  aesthetics 
and  history  of  the  fine  arts,  architecture,  military 
tactics  and  engineering,  physical  geography  and 
meteorology.  It  was  not,  however,  deemed  necessary 
to  fill  all  these  professorships  at  once.  The  report 
elaborates  at  great  length  and  defends  a  system  of  non- 
resident professors  or  lecturers,  and  proposes  that,  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     131 

the  preceding  professorships,  ten  should  be  non-resi- 
dent, viz.,  those  of  veterinary  surgery  and  the  breeding 
of  animals,  physiology,  hygiene  and  physical  culture, 
political  economy,  municipal  law,  constitutional  law, 
the  English  language  and  literature,  aesthetics  and  the 
history  of  the  fine  arts,  architecture,  military  tactics 
and  engineering,  physical  geography,  and  meteorology. 
It  is  interesting  to  examine  this  list  at  the  present 
time,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  see  the  stress  laid 
upon  certain  branches,  and  to  note  others  which  have 
become  of  commanding  importance,  for  which  no  pro- 
vision was  suggested.  Of  the  professorships  first 
enumerated,  a  haze  rests  upon  the  one  entitled  moral 
and  physical  culture,  as  physical  culture  had  been  in- 
cluded under  the  head  of  physiology  and  hygiene. 
Possibly  one  professorship  of  physical  culture  was  to 
be  associated  with  morality,  and  the  other  was  not. 
Later  we  find  among  the  resident  professorships  one 
established  for  moral  and  mental  philosophy,  which 
was  perhaps  designed  to  cover  the  same  field  as  that 
of  moral  and  physical  culture,  which  was  first  pro- 
posed. It  was  thought  that  eight  or  ten  professors 
would  be  sufficient  for  the  work  of  the  first  year. 

The  question  of  the  character  and  qualifications,  the 
terms  of  office,  and  the  salaries  of  the  professors  to  be 
appointed,  was  also  discussed.  It  was  recommended 
that  the  salaries  of  resident  professors,  who  should  be 
of  equal  rank,  should  be  arranged  in  three  grades,  and 
should  be  relatively  $2,250,  $2,000,  and  $1,700;  the 
salaries  of  assistant  professors  should  be  arranged  in 
four  grades,  the  first  of  which  should  receive  $1,750, 
the  second  $1,500,  the  third  $1,200,  the  fourth  $1,000 
per  year. 

The  scheme  of  appointing  non-resident  professors 
was  presented  and  argued  with  great  earnestness.  The 
university  was  to  be  fully  equipped  with  regular  pro- 


132     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

fessors,  to  whom  it  was  proposed  to  add  a  class  of  non- 
resident, short-term  professors  or  university  lecturers. 
For  these  it  was  proposed  to  select  the  most  eminent 
men  in  various  departments  of  literature  and  science, 
who  should  present  the  ' '  highest  results  or  a  summary 
of  the  main  results  of  their  labors."  The  advantages 
which  were  expected  to  come  from  this  system  would, 
in  the  first  place,  be  favorable  to  the  resident  faculty, 
who, ' '  remote  from  centers  of  thought  and  action,  lose 
connection  with  the  world  at  large,  save  through  books, 
and  become  provincial  in  spirit;  they  lose  the  en- 
thusiasm which  contact  with  other  leading  minds  in  the 
same  pursuits  would  arouse."  Under  the  new  system 
' '  there  would  be  a  constant  influx  of  light  and  life,  the 
views  of  the  resident  professors  would  be  enlarged, 
their  efforts  stimulated,  their  whole  life  quickened." 
There  can  be  no  question  that  the  conception  of  a  uni- 
versity faculty  alert  in  the  pursuit  of  truth,  every  mem- 
ber of  which  should  be  a  master  in  some  department 
of  knowledge,  a  center  of  light,  discovering  and  diffus- 
ing truth,  and  himself  an  independent  authority,  is 
not  here  contemplated.  The  intimate  communion  of 
scholars,  promoted  by  learned  societies  and  scientific 
journals,  by  which  fresh  studies  and  investigations 
become  at  once  the  property  of  all,  is  overlooked  in 
this  somewhat  cloistered  conception  of  a  university. 
The  influence  of  non-resident  lecturers  upon  students 
was  especially  extolled ;  in  the  case  of  men  of  the  great- 
est ability  and  eminence,  an  enthusiasm  would  be 
aroused  among  students  in  various  departments  of 
knowledge,  which  would  direct  their  energies  into 
channels  of  thought  and  study.  The  public  in  general, 
which  under  ordinary  circumstances  did  not  avail  itself 
of  the  privileges  of  the  university,  would  be  benefited, 
by  the  influence  of  men  already  in  active  life.  Such  a 
system  would  contribute  to  the  reputation  of  the  uni- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     133 

versity  by  associating  with  it,  in  addition  to  a  meritori- 
ous resident  faculty,  a  number  of  special  professors 
or  lecturers,  whose  ability  and  research  were  acknowl- 
edged ;  ' '  the  institution  would  arrive  in  a  short  time  at 
a  height  of  reputation  which  other  institutions  have 
failed  to  achieve  during  long  years  of  ordinary  ad- 
ministration." A  resident  faculty  could  in  that  case 
be  chosen  for  its  ''  energy  and  working  ability,"  and 
not  for  the  hard  work  of  the  university — men  ivho  have 
attained  eminence  and  so  outlived  their  ivillingness  to 
do  hard  work. 

The  danger  that  scholars  who  have  attained  emi- 
nence might  **  have  outlived  the  necessity  of  hard 
thought  and  work,"  and  so  be  less  valuable  as  teachers, 
is  expressed  repeatedly  in  the  report — certainly,  if 
true,  a  warning  against  eminence,  and  a  frightful 
result  to  anticipate  of  a  life  devoted  to  true  knowledge 
and  the  service  of  one's  fellow-men. 

The  plan  of  securing  as  professors  young  men 
'^  who  have  a  name  to  make  and  can  make  it,"  was 
recommended.  ''  We  can  thus  secure  enthusiasm, 
energy,  ambition,  and  willingness  to  work,  without  pay- 
ing enormous  salaries."  Great  and  proper  stress  is 
laid  in  the  report  upon  general  culture  in  the  profess- 
ors to  be  appointed,  apart  from  mere  scientific  attain- 
ments. ''  The  university  must  not  only  make  scholars, 
it  has  a  higher  duty;  it  must  make  men — men  manly, 
earnest,  and  of  good  general  culture."  Young  men 
were  to  receive  the  form  and  impress  which  they  should 
bear  through  life. 

A  noble  ideal  of  the  character  of  the  university 
teacher  was  here  presented,  and  one  worthy  of 'the 
author  of  the  report,  who  in  his  own  person  so  well 
illustrates  the  refining  influences  of  letters  and  of  asso- 
ciation with  men. 

For  teachers  of  modern  languages,  Americans  were 


134     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

recommended  instead  of  foreigners.  ''  The  slight  ad- 
vantage in  correct  accent  possessed  by  an  instructor 
from  a  foreign  country  is  always  too  dearly  purchased 
by  the  sacrifice  of  qualities  which  ensure  success  in 
lectures  or  recitations." 

To  make  the  personality  of  the  professors  effective 
in  exerting  an  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  stu- 
dents, the  freest  and  most  intimate  intercourse  between 
professors  and  students  was  advocated.  The  Athenian 
ideal  of  culture  was  to  be  realized  by  a  frank,  full,  and 
genial  conversation  between  teacher  and  taught ;  for  a 
manly  sympathy  in  thought  and  learning  between  the 
pupil  and  teacher  is  worth  more  than  all  educational 
machinery  apart  from  it.  To  make  possible  and  pro- 
mote this  intercourse,  it  was  even  proposed  that  addi- 
tions to  the  salaries  of  professors  be  made  to  enable 
them  to  meet  the  cost  of  the  social  entertainment  of  stu- 
dents. It  is  proper  to  say  that  the  relations  of  stu- 
dents and  professors  in  the  university  have  been,  from 
the  first,  of  the  most  frank  and  cordial  character.  Har- 
mony and  co-operation  in  the  faculty  were  insisted 
upon;  in  case  of  feuds  and  quarrels  between  professors 
it  was  recommended  that  all  concerned  be  at  once  re- 
quested to  resign,  unless  the  disturbing  person  could 
be  recognized  beyond  reasonable  doubt.  It  was 
affirmed, ' '  better  to  have  science  taught  less  brilliantly 
than  to  have  it  rendered  contemptible." 

THE    NON-RESIDENT    LECTURE    SYSTEM 

The  non-resident  lecture  system,  which  had  been  em- 
phasized in  the  plan  of  organization,  was  a  charac- 
teristic part  of  the  proposed  university.  At  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  of  Trustees  held  in  Albany,  Septem- 
ber 26,  1867,  six  lecturers  or  non-resident  professors 
were  appointed.     The  most  prominent  of  these  were 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     135 

Louis  Agassiz  in  natural  history;  James  Russell  Low- 
ell in  English  literature;  George  William  Curtis  in 
recent  literature;   Theodore  W.   Dwight  in  constitu- 
tional law;  James  Hall  in  general  geology;  and  Gov- 
ernor Frederick  Holbrook  of  Vermont  in  agriculture. 
Most  of  these  lecturers  had  exhibited  a  general  interest 
in  the  new  university,  and  had  co-operated  by  counsel 
and  suggestion  as  to  the  form  which  it  should  assume. 
Lectures  of  the  character  proposed,  so  far  as  they  were 
a  substitute  for  systematic  instruction  in  a  given  de- 
partment, were  necessarily  unsatisfactory.    They  were 
either  popular  and  general  in  character,  or,  if  scien- 
tific,  they   stood  alone,   not   supplementing,   save   in- 
directly, any  given  course  of  study.     Of  such  general 
lectures,  treating  of  detached  authors  or  periods  in 
literature,  or  presenting  a  popular  outline  of  science 
but  constituting  no  distinct  chapter  part  of  a  given 
course,   the  number  might  be  increased  indefinitely. 
These  lectures  were  delivered  first  in  the  spring  of 
1869.     It  is  interesting  to  note  the  subjects.     George 
William  Curtis  gave  twelve  lectures,  and  presented  a 
Review  of  Modern  Literature,   The  Novel,   Dickens, 
Thackeray,  Women  in  Literature,  George  Eliot,  Car- 
lyle,  Robert  Browning,  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning, 
Tennyson,  American  Literature,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 
Mr.  Lowell  was  at  that  time  an  experienced  academic 
lecturer,  but  he  felt  a  stage  fright  at  the  prospect  of 
lecturing  before  a  public  audience  and  wrote  with  char- 
acteristic humor :     "I  have  been  in  a  dreadful  funk, 
growing  worse  as  the  day  drew  nearer.     I  knew  just 
how  Cowper  felt  about  his  clerkship  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  have  often  meditated  running  away  as  he 
did.     But  I  shall  keep  my  word.     I  was  still  more  terri- 
fied when  I  saw  that  my  title  was  Early  English  Litera- 
ture.    I  couldn't  make  twelve  lectures  on  that  subject 
to  save  my  soul ;  however,  I  shall  bring  with  me  a  dozen 


136     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

lectures  such  as  I  have  found  most  entertaining  to  my 
classes  here,  and  try  my  luck.  If  I  don't  suit  you,  you 
have  only  to  be  frank  with  me  and  I  will  make  room 
for  somebody  else  who  will  do  better.  I  suppose  there 
is  no  chance  of  escape  now?  You  have  no  notion  how 
great  a  fool  I  can  be,  and  it  seems  a  queer  trick  of  fate 
that  I  should  have  been  doing  for  thirteen  years  what 
grows  harder  instead  of  easier  to  me."  Mr.  Lowell 
delivered  twelve  lectures  in  the  spring  of  1869  and  1870. 
He  discussed  The  Elements  of  Literature  in  three 
lectures,  A  Review  of  Literature,  The  Imaginative  in 
Expression,  Wit  and  Humor;  The  Troubadours  and 
Trouveres,  Piers  Plowman's  Vision,  Dante,  Chaucer, 
The  Authors  between  the  Time  of  Chaucer  and  Spen- 
ser, Spenser,  Early  English  Ballads,  Pope,  and  Higher 
Culture.  Professor  Dwight's  course  upon  Constitu- 
tional Law  embraced  twelve  lectures,  the  subjects  of 
which  included  a  definition  and  explanation  of  terms ; 
the  sources  of  the  Constitution;  mode  of  generating 
governments ;  difference  between  the  state  and  general 
government;  structure  of  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, and  powers  of  Congress  and  restrictions  upon 
Congress.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  names  of  these 
accomplished  lecturers  were  a  brilliant  contribution  to 
the  university  at  its  opening,  as  they  would  have  been 
at  any  subsequent  time.  The  personality  of  Professor 
Agassiz  and  his  enthusiasm  for  science  not  only  in^ 
terested  the  general  students  of  the  university,  but 
incited  some  to  an  enthusiastic  pursuit  of  science.  His 
humor  was  unfailing.  On  August  29,  1867,  he  wrote 
in  reply  to  an  inquiry:  ''  I  have  a  cold  in  the  head 
and  write  '  t's  '  for  '  d's.'  Have  you  ever  experienced 
that  yourself?  "  His  lectures  were  confined  to  a 
single  course,  as  his  engagements  did  not  permit  him 
to  continue  them.  He  spent  a  month  and  a  half  at  the 
university.     Professor  Lowell's  subjects,  while  more 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     137 

critical  and  remote  than  those  of  Mr.  Curtis,  possessed 
all  that  charm  of  composition,  that  ample  knowledge, 
that  grace  and  delicacy  of  humor  which  have  made  him 
one  of  the  prominent  figures  in  American  literature. 
Mr.  Lowell  lectured  only  a  single  year.  Mr.  Curtis, 
whose  graceful  style  and  pleasant  discursive  criticism 
charmed  for  so  many  years  the  readers  of  Harper's 
Monthly,  won  an  enthusiastic  reception  from  the  stu- 
dent world.  The  lectures  of  Governor  Holbrook,  who 
had  a  popular  interest  in  agriculture,  and  of  Professor 
Hall,  were  never  delivered.  Professor  Curtis  deliv- 
ered his  lectures  a  second  time  during  the  spring  of 
1871.  Mr.  Bayard  Taylor  was  elected  non-resident  pro- 
fessor of  German  literature  on  July  17,  1869,  and  de- 
livered his  first  course  of  lectures  in  the  spring  of  1870. 
The  subjects  of  his  lectures  were:  Lessing;  Klopstock, 
Wieland,  and  Herder ;  Schiller ;  two  lectures  on  Goethe, 
and  one  on  Alexander  von  Humboldt.  A  second  course, 
delivered  in  the  beginning  of  June  in  the  following 
year  (1871),  embraced  lectures  on  The  Beginnings 
of  German  Literature;  The  Minnesingers;  The  Ger- 
man Epics  of  the  Middle  Ages;  The  Nibelungenlied ; 
The  Literature  of  the  Reformation,  and  The  Litera- 
ture of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  In  May,  1875,  the 
first  course  was  repeated,  with  the  substitution  of 
a  lecture  on  Richter  for  that  on  Humboldt.  In  the 
year  before  Mr.  Taylor  was  appointed  as  minister 
to  Germany  (May,  1877)  he  repeated  his  second  course 
of  lectures,  which  he  had  re-written,  and  in  which  he 
had  substituted  original  translations  for  those  pre- 
viously borrowed  from  others.  These  lectures,  except 
that  on  Richter,  were  later  published  in  his  Studies 
in  German  Literature  (1879).  They  were  held  in 
Library  Hall,  which  enabled  the  citizens  of  Ithaca 
to  attend  them,  as  well  as  the  students.  Mr.  Taylor, 
who  was  widely  known  for  his  books  of  travels,  and 


138     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

later  for  his  translation  of  Faust,  although  not  in 
a  technical  sense  an  authority  upon  German,  was  a 
master  workman  in  literature,  and  the  lectures  which 
he  delivered,  though  popular  in  character  and  prepared 
expressly  for  the  occasion,  were  suggestive  from  the 
interesting  comparisons  introduced,  covering  a  wide 
range  of  reading,  and  from  his  sympathy  with  the 
writers  whom  he  selected  for  treatment.  The  trans- 
lations with  which  he  illustrated  his  lectures  were  often 
very  felicitous.  Few  American  writers  have  possessed 
so  remarkable  a  power  to  reproduce  the  words  and 
metre,  and  to  imitate  the  style  of  earlier  and  contem- 
porary writers.  The  "  Echo  Club,"  which  he  after- 
ward wrote  for  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  illustrates  in  a 
remarkable  degree  his  unusual  gift  of  improvisation. 
His  death  in  Berlin,  on  December  19,  1878,  as  envoy 
extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  Ger- 
man Empire,  called  out  Mr.  Longfellow's  poem,  Bay- 
ard Taylor,  beginning : 

"  Dead  he  lay  among  his  books ; 
The  peace  of  God  was  in  his  looks.'' 

Professor  George  W.  Greene,  the  author  of  the  elab- 
orate life  of  General  Greene  of  the  Revolutionary 
army,  delivered  several  extended  courses  of  lectures 
upon  American  History  in  the  years  from  1872  to  1874. 
A  bust  of  this  distinguished  scholar  and  delightful 
man,  presented  by  his  friend,  the  poet  Longfellow,  was 
placed  in  the  library  in  1879.  Mr.  John  Fiske  also  de- 
livered seven  lectures  upon  the  same  subject  in  April, 
1881.  Mr.  Froude,  the  English  historian,  delivered 
six  lectures  on  the  History  of  English  Rule  in  Ireland, 
in  October  and  November,  1872.  Professor  Von  Hoist 
of  the  University  of  Freiburg,  the  eminent  author  of 
the  great  work  on  American  Constitutional  History, 
delivered  ten  lectures  on  that  subject,  May  19-30,  1879. 


TRUSTEES 


John  DeWitt  Warner   (1882-1887; 

1894-1899;    since  1903) 
Frank  Harris  Hiscock  (1889-1894; 

since  1901) 


Mynderse  Van  Cleef   (since  1895) 
Robert  Henry  Treman   (since  1891) 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     139 

Mr.  Edward  A.  Freeman,  the  historian,  delivered  sev- 
eral lectures  in  November,  1881,  in  which  he  discussed 
the  political  institutions  of  Greece,  Rome,  and  Modern 
Europe,  which,  however,  as  they  had  been  in  part  pre- 
viously published,  won  but  limited  recognition. 

The  system  of  non-resident  lectureships  proved  a 
valuable  feature  in  Sibley  College,  under  the  skilful 
guidance  of  the  director,  Dr.  Robert  H.  Thurston. 
Eminent  specialists  were  invited  to  discuss  some  sub- 
ject in  technical  or  theoretical  science  of  which  they 
were  the  acknowledged  masters.  These  special  dis- 
cussions have  constituted  brilliant  illustrations  of  cer- 
tain subjects  which  had  already  formed  a  part  of  the 
instruction  of  the  students,  who  had  thus  been  qualified 
to  understand  the  latest  discoveries  in  applied  science. 
Many  of  the  most  eminent  scholars  in  America  have 
during  the  last  eight  years  lectured  before  the  students 
of  Sibley  College,  among  them  Professor  Bell,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  telephone ;  Horace  See,  on  modern  marine 
construction ;  George  H.  Babcock,  on  the  steam  engine ; 
Elihu  Thompson,  on  electric  distribution;  Henry  Met- 
calfe, U.  S.  A.,  on  costs  and  manufactures ;  Thomas  C. 
Clarke,  on  the  construction  of  large  railroad  bridges; 
Lieutenant  Zalinski,  on  the  pneumatic  dynamite  gun; 
R.  W.  Hunt,  on  the  manufacture  of  Bessemer  steel; 
B.  F.  Thurston,  on  the  theory  of  patent  law;  C.  J. 
Woodbury,  on  the  modern  mill;  Charles  E.  Emery,  on 
the  governing  proportions  of  steam  boilers,  etc.,  etc. 

The  first  demand  of  a  university  lecturer  is  that  he 
should  be  didactic.  Other  gifts,  of  philosophical  gen- 
eralization and  description,  have  also  their  place,  and 
the  ability  to  interest  and  inspire,  even  where  the  con- 
tent of  the  lecture  is  less  marked,  is  a  quality  of  high 
value  in  a  university  teacher.  Professor  Dwight  was  a 
great  teacher.  He  had  the  power  to  group  his  material 
and  present  it  in  the  most  effective  manner.    His  lee- 


140     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

tTires  had  unity  in  themselves,  and  the  course  which  he 
delivered  here  in  successive  years,  while  not  supple- 
mented by  the  study  of  text-books  and  recitations,  con- 
stituted a  valuable  series,  upon  a  subject  of  importance 
to  every  citizen,  when  the  resources  of  the  university 
were  insufficient  to  equip  the  necessary  chairs  of  per- 
manent instruction. 

A  university  in  which  adequate  provision  has  been 
made  for  instruction  by  eminent  scholars  in  all  depart- 
ments of  learning  which  form  a  part  of  its  curriculum 
will  not  need  external  assistance.  If  its  means  are  not 
ample,  and  its  teaching  force  inadequate,  the  use  of  its 
resources  for  costly  attractions  from  without  is  not 
justifiable.  The  province  of  all  courses  of  extra  lectures 
should  be  to  supplement  the  established  curriculum, 
and  not  in  any  sense  to  be  a  substitute  for  it.  Super- 
ficial and  merely  popular  knowledge  cannot  take  the 
place  of  the  accurate  and  scientific  training  required  in 
a  university.  The  most  illustrious  professors  lectur- 
ing to  minds  unprepared  would  be  a  waste  of  intel- 
lectual power.  Where  students  are  specially  prepared, 
the  work  of  eminent  scholars  may  be  added  to  present 
brilliantly  some  phase  of  knowledge.  Modern  courses 
of  study  are,  however,  so  crowded  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  additional  subjects  can  often  only  divert,  or  be 
done  at  the  expense  of  essential  and  systematic  work. 
At  the  time  of  the  introduction  of  these  lectures  here, 
the  means  of  the  university  were  so  limited,  and  the 
faculty  were  so  restricted  in  facilities  for  essential  in- 
struction, that  criticism  of  any  system  which  impaired 
the  success  of  the  work  in  required  courses  was  natural 
and  universal. 


CHAPTER  IX 

1.  UNIVERSITY  ADMESriSTRATION.  2.  ALUMNI  REPRESEN- 
TATION ON  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES.  3.  RELATION 
OF   THE    UNIVERSITY    TO    THE    CHURCH 

THE  plan  of  organization  presented  to  the 
trustees  two  years  before  the  opening  of  the 
university  must  be  regarded  as  an  expres- 
sion of  the  views  of  a  single  trustee.  It  is 
signed  by  Mr.  Andrew  D.  White  in  behalf  of  the  com- 
mittee on  organization.  There  is  no  reference  in  the 
records  of  the  trustees  to  the  appointment  of  such  a 
committee,  and  Mr.  White  himself  states  that  the  plan 
of  organization  as  presented  was  prepared  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Mr.  Cornell.  Mr.  Cornell  studied  it  care- 
fully, gave  it  his  approval,  and  a  copy  with  the  notes 
in  his  own  hand  is  still  preserved.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that,  at  the  time  this  report  was  prepared,  Mr. 
White  was  even  a  prospective  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency. He  states  that  he  did  not  know  the  purpose 
of  Mr.  Cornell  to  present  his  name  for  such  an  appoint- 
ment until  he  was  formally  nominated  for  election  on 
October  21,  1866,  by  Mr.  Cornell.  The  report,  how- 
ever, was  published  under  the  authority  of  the  trustees, 
and  may  be  regarded,  in  connection  with  the  election 
of  Mr.  White  as  president  at  the  same  meeting,  as  re- 
ceiving the  endorsement  of  the  board  and  as  an  expres- 
sion of  its  views  regarding  the  proposed  form  of  the 
university.  The  charter  was  bestowed  upon  a  corpora- 
tion of  ten  persons,  viz.,  Ezra  Cornell,  William  Kelly, 
Horace  Greeley,  Josiah  B.  Williams,  William  Andrus, 
John  McGraw,  George  W.  Schuyler,  Hiram  Sibley,  J. 

141 


142     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Meredith  Read,  and  John  M.  Parker,  who  were  to  con- 
stitute a  body  politic  and  corporate  to  be  known  as  the 
Cornell  University,  having  the  rights  and  privileges 
necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  of  its 
creation,  and  subject  to  the  provisions  and  with  the 
powers  enumerated  in  the  revised  statutes  of  the  state 
of  New  York  as  regards  college  corporations.  This 
is  a  general  grant  or  bestowal  of  power,  without  the 
specification  of  details,  such  as  is  made  in  the  charter 
of  other  universities  in  the  state  and  elsewhere  in  the 
country.  Similarly,  there  is  no  specification  of  the 
duties  or  province  of  the  faculty  in  regard  to  the  con- 
sideration and  determination  of  important  questions 
in  the  educational  policy  of  the  university.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  establishment  and  approval  of  courses,  the 
requirements  for  admission  and  graduation,  the  settle- 
ment of  questions  of  discipline,  or  any  specification  of 
the  important  functions  which,  by  common  university 
law  and  tradition,  are  possessed  by  the  faculties  of 
other  institutions  of  learning,  were  not  specified  in  the 
charter.  A  delimitation  of  the  respective  powers  and 
prerogatives  of  the  two  bodies  was  not  made  until  a 
formal  codification  of  the  university  statutes  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  trustees,  of  which  Judge  Douglass  Board- 
man  was  chairman,  was  adopted  on  May  19,  1891.  We 
find  in  the  early  history  of  the  university  the  executive 
committee  exercising  functions  which  later,  and  nat- 
urally, were  assigned  to  the  faculty,  such  as  changing 
the  standard  of  requirements  for  admission,  prescrib- 
ing the  uniform  to  be  worn  by  the  university  students, 
and  even  inflicting  discipline.  An  amusing,  but  not 
serious,  difference  of  opinion  arose  at  one  time  be- 
tween these  two  bodies  as  to  the  expediency  of  requir- 
ing all  students  of  the  university  to  wear  a  military 
uniform.  The  faculty  were  by  no  means  united  in  the 
belief  that  the  university  should  be  transformed  into  a 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     143 


military  school.  They  saw  that  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  university  it  would  be  impossible,  as  well  as  un- 
desirable in  its  future  growth  and  development  as  a 
seat  of  advanced  study,  to  enforce  the  universal  obli- 
gation of  military  drill  and  dress.  The  expense  of 
such  a  costume,  as  well  as  a  reluctance  on  the  part  of 
students  to  invest  themselves  permanently  in  a  cos- 
tume which  was  without  beauty  or  variety,  raised 
serious  opposition  on  their  part.  Finally,  as  a  com- 
promise, it  was  enacted  that  as  a  distinguishing  badge 
all  students  should  wear  a  military  cap.  The  faculty 
seems  to  have  raised  some  objection  to  even  this  com- 
pulsory badge,  but  the  trustees  claimed  authority  to 
dictate  and  determine  a  general  policy,  and  directed 
that  the  rule  should  be  enforced. 

There  is  no  specification  of  the  distinct  province  of 
the  faculty  and  trustees,  the  latter  of  whom  have  cer- 
tain duties  provided  for  in  the  charter,  and  a  wide 
scope  of  undefined  powers  attaching  by  common  ac- 
ademic law  to  their  office.  In  order  to  avoid  stagna- 
tion and  lack  of  initiative,  which  often  prevails  in 
bodies  whose  power  is  self-perpetuating,  it  was  dis- 
tinctly recommended  that  the  term  of  office  of  trustees 
should  be  fixed  at  five  years,  and  that  it  should  require 
a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  electing  body  to  re-elect  a 
former  trustee.  The  active  interest  and  participation 
of  the  alumni  in  the  government  of  the  university,  in 
accordance  with  the  established  usage  at  the  English 
universities,  and  as  had  been  recently  done  at  Har- 
vard University,  by  which  the  alumni,  in  place  of  the 
legislature,  chose  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Over- 
seers, was  to  be  secured  by  permitting  the  alumni  of 
the  university,  whenever  they  reached  the  number  of 
one  hundred,  to  choose  one  trustee. 

The  relation  which  the  faculty  should  sustain  in  the 
administration  of  the  university  was  so  conceived  as 


144     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

to  give  great  dignity  and  importance  to  their  delibera- 
tions. That  system  of  college  government  was  crit- 
icised, in  which  the  president  appropriates  the  main 
functions  of  administration,  originates  action,  and  is 
responsible  to  the  trustees  alone  for  whatever  he  may 
do,  while  the  faculty  have  no  share,  or  only  a  limited 
one,  in  determining  the  courses  of  study  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  work  that  shall  be  done  in  the  university. 
The  faculty  ''  are  not  merely  advisors,  but  legisla- 
tors," they  should  have  stated  meetings  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conducting  the  general  administration  of  the 
institution  and  memorializing  the  trustees,  discussing 
general  questions  of  educational  policy,  and  presenting 
papers  upon  special  subjects  in  literature,  science,  and 
the  arts.  The  entire  faculty  should  constitute  an 
academic  senate,  in  which  all  members  of  the  teach- 
ing staff  should  have  the  right  to  speak,  but  the  right 
of  voting  should  be  confined  to  resident  and  non-resi- 
dent professors,  and  assistant  professors  representing 
departments  in  which  no  full  professor  has  been  ap- 
pointed. The  division  of  the  faculty  into  groups  ac- 
cording to  departments,  each  presided  over  by  the 
president  or  a  dean,  was  also  recommended. 

From  the  formal  discussion  of  the  constitution  of 
the  new  university,  the  report  proceeded  to  discuss  its 
equipment,  and  it  was  proposed  that  the  agricultural 
department  should  include  a  model  farm  for  the  study 
and  illustration  of  scientific  agriculture,  and  that  a 
museum  of  models  of  agricultural  implements,  prod- 
ucts, etc.,  should  be  formed.  The  department  of 
mechanic  arts  should  be  equipped  with  collections  of 
drawings,  casts,  sectional  and  working  models,  in  gen- 
eral character  like  those  in  the  Conservatory  of  Arts 
and  Trades  in  Paris.  The  illustrative  collection 
should  be  first,  and  the  model  workshop  second.  For 
the  experiments  in  agriculture  one  farm  would  be  suffi- 


SIGMA  NU 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     145 

cient,  as  the  main  outlines  of  procedure  in  practical 
culture  and  experiments  are  simple;  a  small  range  of 
implements  would  be  sufficient  for  the  whole  work;  in 
mechanics,  as  a  rule,  one  workshop  will  answer  only 
for  the  single  branch  to  which  it  is  devoted.  ' '  There 
is  then  no  such  need  of  experimental  workshops  in 
this  department,  as  of  experimental  farms  in  the 
other. ' ' 

The  vast  development  of  shops  for  practical  work  in 
forging,  casting,  turning,  and  carpentry,  was  but  dimly 
foreseen  twenty-eight  years  ago.  The  introduction  of 
these  in  their  larger  extent  followed  the  exposition  of 
1876  in  Philadelphia,  when  the  system  of  shops  in  the 
Russian  schools  of  technology  was  first  revealed  to 
American  educators. 

For  mathematics  and  engineering,  drawings,  engrav- 
ings, models  and  casts  were  recommended ;  for  natural 
history,  collections  in  geology,  mineralogy,  zoology, 
comparative  anatomy,  and  botany ;  also  the  acquisition 
of  the  best  apparatus  for  physical  and  chemical  investi- 
gation, especially  that  which  would  illustrate  the  solidi- 
fication of  carbonic-acid  gas ;  apparatus  for  the  direct 
generation  on  a  large  scale  of  electricity  from  steam, 
the  Boston  modification  of  Ruhmkorff's  coil,  for  pre- 
senting the  effects  of  electricity  induced  by  the  gal- 
vanic current,  and  the  new  French  apparatus  for  ex- 
perimenting upon  light.  The  author  of  the  report 
regarded  this  apparatus  as  especially  brilliant  and 
most  worthy  of  acquisition,  as  best  illustrating  the 
progress  of  science  in  the  departments  of  chemistry 
and  physics  at  that  time.  Mr.  White 's  love  of  art,  and 
interest  in  it  as  illustrating  the  history  of  culture,  is 
shown  by  the  proposal  to  found  as  soon  as  practicable 
a  museum  of  casts,  of  which  there  were  then  few  in  the 
United  States,  and  these  of  very  limited  extent. 

Provision  should  be  soon  made  for  a  library  as  the 


146     CORNELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY 

culmination  of  all, — touching  all  departments  and  meet- 
ing the  needs  of  teachers  and  taught.  From  the  first, 
the  building  up  of  a  library  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  in- 
stitution and  worthy  of  its  aims  should  be  steadily  kept 
in  view.  A  large  library  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  various  departments ;  without  it,  men 
of  the  highest  ability  will  frequently  be  plodding  in  old 
circles  and  stumbling  into  old  errors.  The  history  of 
the  progress  of  modern  science  is  the  history  of  a  de- 
velopment and  accretion — development  out  of  previous 
thought  and  work — accretion  upon  previous  thought 
and  work.  The  discovery  of  truth  and  the  diffusion  of 
truth — the  two  great  functions  of  a  university — will 
be  impossible  without  a  liberal  library. 

The  government  of  the  university  in  its  relation  to 
students,  the  manual-labor  system,  the  cost  of  tuition, 
physical  culture,  the  dormitory  system,  the  relation  of 
the  university  to  other  institutions  of  learning  and  to 
the  school  system  of  the  state,  and  the  final  general 
test  of  university  education,  were  then  discussed.  What 
was  to  be  the  theory  of  discipline  in  the  new  univer- 
sity? Should  it  be  military,  or  the  ordinary  collegiate 
discipline,  or  an  adaptation  of  the  free  university 
system  of  continental  Europe  ?  ' '  The  military  system 
has  undoubted  advantages.  It  puts  all  students  upon 
an  equality  in  mere  outward  advantages  of  dress, 
style,  and  living ;  it  subjects  students  to  a  more  perfect 
control;  it  gives  from  among  the  students  officers  to 
aid  in  enforcing  rigid  military  discipline."  On  the 
other  hand,  uniformity  in  dress  would  lessen  the  indi- 
viduality of  students.  The  professor  would  be  de- 
prived of  one  of  the  best  means  of  judging  those  who 
are  before  him  in  his  lecture  room,  and  of  knowing 
him  in  his  lecture  room,  and  of  knowing  how  to  deal 
with  the  individual.  A  student  loses  nothing  in  the 
estimation  of  the  university  world  by  a  dress  which 


COKNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     147 

indicates  frugality  or  economy.  In  no  community  on 
earth  is  man  estimated  so  exactly  by  what  is  supposed 
to  be  his  real  worth,  as  in  a  community  of  college  stu- 
dents. It  was  not  believed  possible  to  apply  a  rigid 
military  system  to  the  whole  university.  By  the  fun- 
damental theory  of  the  university  there  would  be  stu- 
dents of  various  ages  and  grades,  some  attending 
courses  of  instruction  for  a  longer,  some  for  a  shorter 
time,  some  residing  in  the  university  buildings,  some 
in  the  town  itself.  Military  science  should  always 
form  a  part  of  the  instruction,  but  it  was  not  recom- 
mended that  the  government  be  military  except  per- 
haps in  some  single  departments,  where  efficiency 
would  be  promoted  by  military  forms.  The  ordinary 
collegiate  plan  of  government,  although  necessary 
from  a  partial  adoption  of  the  dormitory  system,  was 
not  regarded  as  final  by  the  committee. 

It  was  believed  that  a  system  of  university  freedom 
would  promote  the  best  government.  '  *  In  this  system, 
laws  are  few  but  speedily  executed,  and  the  university 
is  regarded  neither  as  an  asylum  nor  a  reform  school. 
Much  is  trusted  to  the  manliness  of  the  students.  An 
attempt  will  be  made  to  teach  the  students  to  govern 
themselves,  also  to  cultivate  acquaintance  and  confi- 
dence between  the  faculty  and  students.  By  the  rigid 
execution  of  a  few  laws  of  discipline,  by  the  promotion 
of  extra-official  intercourse  between  teachers  and 
taught,  by  placing  professors  over  students  not  as 
police  but  as  a  body  of  friends,  a  government  would 
be  secured  better  than  any  other." 

A  system  of  manual  labor  in  connection  with  the  de- 
partments of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  by 
which  students  could  defray  a  portion  of  their  ex- 
penses, was  recommended.  While  experiments  of  this 
kind  had  been  made  unsuccessfully  in  certain  cases,  it 
was  thought  that  they  had  not  been  fully  or  fairly 


148      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


tried,  or  with  such  ample  means  as  the  university  would 
afford.  It  was  not  proposed  to  make,  as  in  most  agri- 
cultural colleges,  labor  obligatory  upon  all  students. 
One  practical  objection  would  be  conclusive  against  it, 
if  theoretical  objections  were  not:  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  provide  labor  for  all.  It  might,  however,  be 
necessary  to  require  manual  labor  from  all  the  stu- 
dents in  certain  departments.  Labor  corps  would  be 
organized,  and  every  inducement  held  out  to  students 
to  join  them.  Such  a  system  would  be  of  mutual  ad- 
vantage to  the  students  and  to  the  university ;  it  would 
promote  the  muscular  development  of  students  and 
give  substantial  pecuniary  aid  to  many.  It  was  not, 
however,  thought  that  physical  labor  could  take  the 
place  of  athletic  sports  and  gymnastic  exercises  in  giv- 
ing restoration  after  mental  labor.  The  mind  could 
not  be  kept  fresh,  elastic,  and  energetic  when  the  only 
relief  from  tension  was  the  change  from  one  form  of 
labor  to  another.  It  was  therefore  recommended  that 
a  fully  equipped  gymnasium  be  erected,  and  that  gym- 
nastic exercises  under  the  direction  of  an  instructor, 
or  equivalent  training  in  manual  labor  or  exercises  in 
the  open  air,  be  required  of  all.  Boating,  baseball,  and 
other  recreations  were  to  be  encouraged,  and  deteriora- 
tion in  physical  culture  was  to  be  held  in  the  same  cate- 
gory as  want  of  progress  in  mental  culture,  and  subject 
a  delinquent  to  deprivation  of  university  privileges. 
Attendance  upon  a  course  of  lectures  upon  anatomy, 
physiology,  and  hygiene  was  to  be  required. 

The  only  additional  reference  to  military  drill  was 
contained  in  the  recommendation  that  provision  be 
made  for  teaching  military  engineering  and  tactics,  and 
that  some  plan  for  encouraging  military  tactics  or 
making  it  obligatory  be  adopted. 

In  estimating  the  proper  cost  of  tuition  a  comparison 
was  made  of  the  charges  at  various  colleges ;  tuition  at 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     149 

Yale  was  given  as  $45  per  year;  at  Harvard  as  $100; 
at  the  Institute  of  Technology  in  Boston  as  about  $130 ; 
at  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School  as  from  $250  to  $300. 
In  the  University  of  Michigan,  students  from  without 
the  state  paid  a  matriculation  fee  of  $20,  and  $5  per 
year  thereafter;  in  the  Agricultural  College  similar 
students  paid  $20,  while  in  Dartmouth  College  and  the 
Scientific  School  the  fees  were  from  $30  to  $50.  The 
committee  recommended  therefore  a  matriculation  fee 
of  $15,  and  an  annual  tuition  fee  of  $20.  The  matric- 
ulation fee  was,  however,  never  charged,  and  the 
tuition  fixed  at  $10  per  term  or  $30  per  year.  Room 
rent  in  the  university  dormitories  was  charged  at  from 
60  cents  to  $1  per  week,  according  as  two  or  three  stu- 
dents occupied  one  room. 

While  the  dormitory  system  became  thus  a  part  of 
the  organization  of  the  university,  its  extension  and 
permanent  existence  were  regarded  as  undesirable. 
The  residence  of  a  large  number  of  students  in  colleges 
had  been  the  source  of  fruitful  evils ;  it  made  a  certain 
oversight  and  surveillance  necessary;  it  transformed 
the  college  officer  into  an  agent  of  discipline,  and 
destroyed  the  friendly  relations  which  existed  between 
teacher  and  taught.  It  was,  however,  deemed  neces- 
sary at  the  opening  of  the  university;  the  town  was 
still  remote,  and  its  immediate  capacity  to  afford  ade- 
quate accommodations  was  doubtful.  It  was  besides 
necessary  that  students  should  find  homes  upon  the 
university  grounds  to  conduct  the  experiments  and 
carry  out  the  labor  system  which  was  proposed.  Views 
maintaining  the  equal  value  of  all  studies  for  culture 
were  in  part  revolutionary,  and  Matthew  Arnold 
wrote:  *'  Cornell  University  rests  upon  a  provincial 
misconception  of  what  culture  is,  and  is  calculated 
to  produce  miners  or  engineers  or  architects,  not 
sweetness  and  light." 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    RELATIOISr    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY    TO    THE     STATE. 
EX-OFFICIO    TRUSTEES.       STATE    SCHOLARS 

BY  the  original  charter  of  the  university  the 
number  of  regular  trustees  was  fixed  at 
seventeen,  and  in  order  to  bring  the  univer- 
sity into  direct  relations  to  the  government 
of  the  state,  the  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  speaker 
of  the  house  of  assembly,  superintendent  of  public 
instruction,  president  of  the  state  agricultural  so- 
ciety, librarian  of  the  Cornell  Library,  and  the  eldest 
male  lineal  descendant  of  Ezra  Cornell  were  made 
ex-offtcio  members.  The  system  here  inaugurated  had 
been  in  vogue  in  our  older  universities,  in  which  the 
legislatures  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  elected 
a  certain  number  of  the  trustees  or  overseers  of  Har- 
vard and  Yale  Colleges.  Later,  it  was  found  in  these 
institutions,  that  this  system  was  not  satisfactory  in 
its  results.  It  promoted  the  introduction  of  political 
influence  in  appointments,  and  political  officers,  not 
elected  for  their  academic  attainments,  became  de- 
cisive factors  in  influencing  legislation  in  a  university 
community.  In  the  case  of  Cornell  University,  remem- 
bering that  the  university  had  received  its  endowment 
in  part  from  the  national  government  through  the 
state,  there  was  a  justification  of  the  method  of  ap- 
pointing a  representative  of  the  state  upon  the  board 
of  trustees.  The  university  has  not  by  this  feature 
of  its  charter  attained  a  unique  relation  to  the  state, 
as  other  universities  and  colleges  have  a  similar  pro- 
vision for  representation.     The  permanent  advantage 

150 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     151 

of  such  a  connection  is  doubtful.  Certain  governors 
have  recognized  the  responsibility  of  their  relation  to 
the  university  and  their  influence  has  been  exerted  ad- 
vantageously in  the  counsels  of  the  trustees.  In  many 
cases  governors  have  not  visited  the  university  during 
the  entire  period  of  their  term  of  office,  nor  been  pres- 
ent at  any  meetings  of  the  board.  A  purely  formal 
relation  without  essential  responsibility  does  not  se- 
cure the  efficient  services  of  any  officer.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  it  has  been  exceptional  for  one  of  the  state 
officers  to  be  present  and  participate  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  governing  board,  save  perhaps  in  the  case 
of  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  In  the 
early  years  of  the  university,  the  personal  relations  of 
President  White  to  many  state  officers  was  such  as  to 
secure  their  interest  in  the  university,  and  the  gov- 
ernor and  the  chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York  were  uniformly  present  at  the  annual 
meetings  of  the  board.  At  the  present  time,  we  may 
safely  say  that  this  feature  of  the  university  organiza- 
tion is  ineffective,  and  while  occasionally  of  advantage 
it  makes  possible  for  an  irresponsible  state  repre- 
sentative, by  his  vote,  to  affect  temporarily  the  educa- 
tional policy  of  the  university.  The  system  of  govern- 
ment by  regents  elected  by  political  parties  in  the 
state  universities  of  the  West  has  been  a  fruitful  source 
of  discord,  and  has  been  the  occasion  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  non-academic  elements  in  university  admin- 
istration. 

That  provision  which  makes  the  ' '  eldest  male  lineal 
descendant  "  of  the  founder  a  trustee  has  never 
reached  legal  interpretation,  and  it  is  not  clear  whether 
this  provision  means  a  descendant  of  the  oldest  son, 
or,  as  the  words  apparently  imply,  the  oldest  living 
male  descendant. 

When  it  was  proposed,  in  1894,  to  enlarge  the  num- 


152     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ber  of  regular  trustees,  from  seventeen  to  thirty,  the 
proportion  of  ex-officio  trustees  to  regular  trustees 
was  greatly  diminished. 

STATE    SCHOLARSHIPS 

The  question  of  providing  state  scholarships  in  col- 
leges founded  under  the  National  Land  Grand  Act  was 
agitated  very  early.  The  state  of  Connecticut,  in  the 
act  establishing  an  agricultural  and  mechanical  col- 
lege in  connection  with  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
provided  for  gratuitous  instruction  to  students  espe- 
cially selected  under  certain  regulations  to  enjoy  this 
privilege  (approved  by  Governor  Buckingham,  Septem- 
ber 3, 1863),  "  The  number  of  pupils  to  be  so  received 
gratuitously  into  said  school  shall  be  in  each  year  such 
a  number  as  would  expend  a  sum  equal  to  one-half  of 
the  said  interest  (on  the  income  of  the  National  Land 
Grant)  for  the  same  year  in  paying  for  their  instruc- 
tion in  said  school,  if  they  were  required  to  pay  for  it 
at  the  regular  rates  charged  to  their  pupils."  The 
state  of  Rhode  Island,  in  bestowing  the  land  scrip 
upon  Brown  University,  provided  that  it  should  edu- 
cate scholars  each  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  dollars 
per  annum,  to  the  extent  of  the  entire  annual  income 
from  such  proceeds,  subject  only  to  the  provision  per- 
mitting one-tenth  part  of  the  income  to  be  expended 
in  the  purchase  of  lands.  The  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives from  the  several  towns  in  the  state  were 
constituted  a  Board  of  Commissioners  to  present  to 
the  governor  and  secretary  of  state  the  names  of 
worthy  young  men  to  be  educated  as  state  benefi- 
ciaries, and  the  commissioners  were  instructed  after 
one  candidate  had  been  presented  from  each  town 
in  the  state,  to  select  the  candidates,  as  far  as  may  be, 
from  the  several  towns  in  the  ratio  of  their  representa- 


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CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     153 

tion  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  from  that 
class  of  persons  who  otherwise  would  not  have  the 
means  of  providing  themselves  with  the  like  benefits. 

In  New  Jersey,  students  of  agriculture  and  the  me- 
chanic arts  were  to  be  admitted  to  the  proposed  college 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  board  of  chosen  free- 
holders of  their  representative  counties;  and  the 
number  of  students  which  a  county  should,  at  any  one 
time,  be  entitled  to  have  in  the  college,  was  to  be  equal 
to  the  number  of  representatives  in  the  legislature 
to  which  the  county  was  entitled,  or  in  proportion  to 
the  same,  and  the  trustees  were  required  to  furnish 
gratuitous  instruction  to  pupils,  the  number  of  whom 
each  year  should  be  such  as  would  expend  a  sum  equal 
to  one-half  of  the  said  interest  (on  the  National  Grant) 
for  the  same  year,  in  paying  for  their  instruction,  if 
they  were  required  to  pay  for  it  at  the  regular  rates. 
Some  of  the  states  in  which  agricultural  colleges  al- 
ready existed  provided  for  free  instruction  for  all  stu- 
dents from  the  state,  as  in  the  cases  of  Iowa  and  Michi- 
gan. Others,  like  New  Hampshire,  provided  for  free 
tuition  to  indigent  students.  The  Industrial  University 
of  Illinois  had  proposed  as  early  as  March  4,  1866,  to 
found  two  or  three  free  scholarships,  open  to  students 
in  every  county  who  passed  the  best  examination  for 
admission.  The  provision  which  most  nearly  affected 
the  charter  of  Cornell  University  was  a  section  in  the 
act  assigning  the  land  scrip  to  the  People's  College, 
passed  May  14,  1863,  which  antedated  all  others,  pro- 
viding that,  from  the  year  1868,  or  whenever  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Regents  of  the  university  the  income 
arising  from  the  investments  provided  for  in  the  act 
should  warrant  the  same,  the  People's  College  should 
receive  students  from  every  county  in  the  state,  and 
"  give  and  furnish  to  them  instruction  in  any  or  all 
the  prescribed  branches  of  study  pursued  in  any  de- 


154     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

partment  of  said  institution,  free  from  any  tuition  fee 
or  any  additional  charges  to  be  paid  to  said  college; 
and  the  Regents  of  the  university  shall  from  time  to 
time  designate  the  number  of  students  to  be  so  edu- 
cated; but  they  shall  be  selected  or  caused  to  be  se- 
lected by  the  chancellor  of  the  university  and  the 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  who  shall  jointly 
publish  such  rules  and  regulations  in  regard  thereto  as 
will  in  their  opinion  secure  proper  selections  and  stim- 
ulate competition  in  the  academies,  public  or  other 
schools  in  this  state."    It  was  also  provided  that  the 
Regents  should  determine  from  year  to  year  in  accord- 
ance with  the  income  of  the  college  the  number  of 
youth  who  should  be  exempt  from  any  payment  of- 
board,   tuition,    or   room   rent;    but   in   the    selection 
of  students  preference  should  be  given  to  the  sons  of 
those  who  had  died  in  the  military  or  naval  service 
of  the  United  States.     This  provision  regarding  pref- 
erence to  be  shown  to  the  sons  of  those  who  died  dur- 
ing the  war  appears  also  in  the  charter  of  other  in- 
stitutions, as  in  the  cases  of  the  states  of  Connecticut 
and  Wisconsin,  which  provisions  were  adopted  subse- 
quently to  this  date.    Cornell  University,  in  receiving 
from  the  state  the  Land  Grant  Fund,  assumed  the  ob- 
ligation which  had  been  imposed  upon  the  People's 
College,  but  with  a  more  definite  specification  of  the 
number  of  those  who   should  receive  gratuitous  in- 
struction, it  being  provided  that  it  should  receive  an- 
nually students,  one  from  each  assembly  district  of 
the  state,  that  such  free  instruction  should  be  accorded 
to  students  in  consideration  of  their  superior  ability 
as  a  reward  for  superior  scholarship  in  the  academies 
and  public  schools  of  this  state.     It  differed  further 
from  the  act  appropriating  the  proceeds  of  the  Land 
Grant  Act  to  the  People's  College  by  providing  that 
the  school  commissioners  of  each  county,  or  the  Boards 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     155 

of  Education  in  each  city,  should  select  annually  the 
best  scholar  from  each  academy,  and  each  public  school 
of  their  respective  counties  or  cities,  as  candidates  for 
the  university  scholarship,  which  candidates  should 
meet,  and  after  a  special  examination,  the  best 
scholars,  one  from  each  assembly  district  in  said 
county  or  city,  should  be  selected  and  receive  certifi- 
cates entitling  the  students  to  admission  to  the  uni- 
versity, subject  to  the  examination  and  approval  of 
the  faculty,  which  selection  in  the  previous  act  was  to 
be  made  by  the  chancellor  of  the  university  and  the 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  or  under  their 
direction.  Under  this  provision  Cornell  University 
entered  into  a  direct  obligation  with  the  state  by  which 
it  was  bound  to  educate  contemporaneously  four  stu- 
dents from  each  assembly  district,  should  that  number 
apply  for  admission,  making  a  total  of  512  students, 
who  should  be  drawn  from  the  public  schools  and 
academies  of  the  state.  The  free  instruction  thus 
provided  secured  the  education  of  a  larger  number  of 
students  than  the  entire  number  upon  the  catalogues 
of  several  colleges.  This  act  placed  an  advanced  liberal 
and  technical  education  at  the  disposal  of  the  most 
meritorious  scholars  from  all  parts  of  the  state.  It 
also  brought  the  university  into  direct  relationship  to 
the  courses  of  study  in  the  high  schools  and  acade- 
mies of  the  state,  and  it  has  become  indirectly  through 
its  powerful  advocacy,  and  directly  by  its  standard 
of  requirement,  an  important  factor  in  elevating  and 
directing  the  entire  system  of  public  instruction 
throughout  the  state.  All  parts  of  the  state  did  not 
share  at  once  and  equally  in  the  advantages  thus  pre- 
sented. Owing  to  the  indifference  of  educational 
boards,  in  many  cases  examinations  were  not  provided 
for  students  who  desired  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
benefits  of  the  state  law.    Some  of  the  most  populous 


156     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cities  of  the  state  took  no  action  for  years  to  admit 
the  pupils  of  their  public  schools  to  this  important  ad- 
vantage. By  an  act  amending  the  charter  of  the  uni- 
versity, the  immediate  responsibility  for  the  execu- 
tion of  this  law  was  entrusted  to  the  superintendent  of 
public  instruction,  by  which  it  was  further  provided 
that,  in  case  any  county  was  unrepresented  in  the  uni- 
versity, or  the  scholarship  was  not  claimed  by  a  stu- 
dent of  that  county,  the  state  superintendent  might, 
after  notice  had  been  served  on  the  superintendent  or 
commissioner  of  schools  of  said  county,  appoint  a  can- 
didate from  some  other  county,  whose  rank  entitled 
him  to  such  recognition.  The  superintendent  was  re- 
quired also  to  prepare  the  examination  papers  upon 
which  appointments  were  based,  to  retain  the  papers 
presented  by  the  different  candidates,  to  keep  a  record 
of  the  standing  of  candidates,  and  to  notify  them  of 
their  rights  under  this  act.  He  was  also  charged  with 
the  general  supervision  and  direction  of  all  matters 
in  connection  with  the  filling  of  such  scholarships. 
Under  the  wise  provisions  of  this  act,  the  full  quota 
of  scholarships  allotted  to  the  state  was  filled,  and 
the  number  of  students  availing  themselves  of  the 
privileges  of  the  university  increased  rapidly,  the 
number  admitted  rising  from  375  in  1886-87  to  442 
in  the  following  year,  and  562  in  the  succeeding  year. 
To  these  public  provisions  for  scholarships  should  be 
added  the  fact  that  free  tuition  has  been  accorded  to 
students  who  pursued  the  full  course  in  agriculture, 
and  also  to  graduate  students,  so  that  the  number  re- 
ceiving free  tuition  at  the  present  time  is  not  far  from 
700  students. 

The  university  has  come  into  more  immediate  rela- 
tions with  the  state  and  with  popular  education  by  that 
provision  in  its  charter  through  which  state  scholar- 
ships were  established  in  every  assembly  district  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     157 


the  state,  the  appointment  to  which  devolves  upon  the 
school  commissioners  in  the  different  counties,  acting 
under  the  direction  of  the  state  superintendent  of 
public  instruction.  The  original  charter  provided 
that  one  student  should  be  admitted  from  each  as- 
sembly district.  As  there  were  128  districts,  it  was  pos- 
sible for  the  number  of  state  students  to  reach  a  total  of 
512,  who  should  be  admitted  by  the  university,  free  from 
expense,  save  tuition.  In  1895,  when  the  new  constitu- 
tion of  the  state  went  into  effect,  and  the  number  of  as- 
sembly districts  was  increased  to  150,  corresponding  to 
the  increase  in  population,  it  made  it  incumbent  upon 
the  university  authorities  to  accept  and  educate  600  stu- 
dents, free  of  expense.  As  the  cost  of  such  instruc- 
tion amounts  in  the  case  of  every  student  to  about  $300 
per  year,  the  tax  upon  the  treasury  of  the  university 
in  executing  this  provision  of  its  charter  amounts  to 
about  $180,000  per  year.  In  return  for  this  large 
outlay,  the  state  has  made  no  gift  to  the  university  in 
funds,  but  has  provided  certain  halls  of  instruction  in 
veterinary  science,  agriculture,  and  dairy  husbandry 
in  obedience  to  the  obligations  which  it  assumed  in  ac- 
cepting the  National  Land  Grant,  the  title  of  which 
buildings  remains  vested  in  the  state  and  not  in  the 
university.  The  system  of  German  education,  under 
the  direction  of  the  minister  of  public  instruction, 
gives  a  unity  to  the  entire  system  of  education  through- 
out the  various  states  of  the  German  Empire.  Analo- 
gous provisions  in  some  of  the  western  states  bring 
the  state  universities  into  immediate  relations  to  the 
school  systems  of  the  state.  The  university  has  the 
power  to  prescribe  terms  of  admission,  and  thus  in 
this  way  it  has  contributed  to  raise  the  standard  of  in- 
struction throughout  all  the  schools  of  the  state.  By 
co-operation  with  the  regents  of  the  university,  and 
with  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  this  val- 


158     COKNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

liable  result  has  been  achieved.  Other  forces  have 
co-operated,  notably  the  union  of  the  representatives 
of  different  colleges  and  high  schools  in  the  Middle 
States,  acting  through  the  College  Entrance  Examina- 
tion Board,  and  by  a  similar  representative  organiza- 
tion in  New  England.  The  National  Educational 
Association  has  exerted  a  beneficent  influence  in  se- 
curing unity  of  requirements  in  the  various  elementary 
branches  in  all  the  schools  of  the  country.  The  in- 
fluence of  various  departments  has  been  felt  in  pro- 
moting the  instruction  in  modern  languages,  notably 
in  English,  through  Professor  Hart.  An  exhaustive 
study  of  the  places  allotted  to  German  instruction  in 
the  curriculum  of  American  colleges  was  prepared  by 
Professor  Hewett,  acting  under  the  direction  of  the 
Modern  Language  Association  of  America,  which 
proved  serviceable  as  an  initial  step  in  showing  the  in- 
equalities which  existed  in  the  space  allotted  to  the 
modern  languages  in  the  various  colleges  of  our  coun- 
try. Professor  White  published  an  examination  sim- 
ilar in  character  to  the  requirements  for  admission  in 
German  in  the  various  preparatory  schools. 

The  relation  of  the  university  to  the  state  has  been 
made  more  intimate  from  the  relation  of  state  officers 
to  the  Experiment  Station,  the  Veterinary  College,  and 
the  College  of  Forestry. 

On  October  27,  1884,  the  trustees  of  the  university 
set  apart  the  income  of  a  fund  of  $150,000  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  scholarships  and  fellowships.  The 
origin  of  this  fund  illustrates  one  of  the  noblest  acts  of 
generosity  in  the  history  of  the  university.  The  cost 
of  administration  and  equipment  had  exhausted  the 
income  for  successive  years;  a  debt  of  more  than 
$150,000  threatened  the  serious  embarrassment,  if  not 
the  abridgment,  of  the  work  of  the  university;  the 
large    plan   outlined   in   its    establishment   had   been 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTOEY     159 

proved  to  involve  an  expense  far  in  excess  of  the  avail- 
able funds.    At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
after  serious  debate  respecting  the  financial  difficulties 
in  which  the  university  was  placed,  President  White 
made  a  proposal  to  pay  a  proportion  of  the  university 
debt  according  to  his  property,  provided  the  whole 
debt  could  be  paid  in  the  same  manner  by  individual 
members    of   the    Board    of    Trustees.     Mr.    Cornell 
offered  $50,000  to  discharge  the  debt,  and  finally  in- 
creased his  gift  to  $75,000,  provided  the  balance  could 
be  raised.     The  proposition  awoke  much  enthusiasm, 
and  confidence  was  expressed  that  the  difficulties  which 
beset  the  university  could  in  this  manner  be  overcome. 
Messrs.  John  McGraw,  Henry  W.  Sage,  Hiram  Sibley, 
and  Andrew  D.  White  gave  each  $20,000,  which,  with 
Mr.  Cornell's  generous  gift,  enabled  the  university  to 
discharge  its  liabilities.    There  seems  to  have  been  an 
understanding  at  this  time,  or  subsequently,  that  in 
case  the  university  revenue  should  ever  be  sufficient, 
the  income  of  this  sum  should  be  devoted  to  found  schol- 
arships and  fellowships  for  meritorious  students.     It 
seemed  possible,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
on  October  27, 1884,  to  carry  out  the  proposition  which 
had  been  formed  so  long  before,  and  it  was  voted  to 
establish  twenty-four  scholarships,  six  to  be  awarded 
each  year,  of  the  value  of  $200  each,  to  be  assigned 
to    the    students    passing   the    best    examination    for 
admission,   after  special   examination.     Three   schol- 
arships were   also  established  from  the   Sage  fund, 
which  were  to  be  increased  to  twelve  after  the  year 
1887,  three  to  be  open  to  each  class  upon  entering. 
These   scholarships   were   to  be   awarded   to  women, 
one  of  which  was  to  be  bestowed  upon  the  woman 
passing   the   best   examination   for    entrance    to    the 
course  in  arts,   and   two   to  women   students   enter- 
ing the  freshman  class  in  any  other  course.     It  was 


160     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

provided  that  these  scholarships  should  be  tenable  for 
one  year,  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  faculty 
should  decide  who  should  retain  or  receive  the  scholar- 
ships for  the  remaining  three  years  of  the  course, 
either  by  the  record  made  by  the  students  through  the 
first  year  or  by  competitive  examination,  or  in  what- 
ever manner  it  should  be  deemed  best.  There  were 
also  established  at  the  same  meeting  seven  fellowships 
of  the  value  of  $400  each,  to  be  awarded  to  graduate  stu- 
dents of  Cornell  University,  or  of  some  institution  of 
equal  rank,  who  had  distinguished  themselves  in  some 
special  department  of  study.  Since  this  time  one  addi- 
tional general  university  fellowship  has  been  estab- 
lished; also  three  Susan  Linn  Sage  fellowships  in  phi- 
losophy and  ethics,  and  six  graduate  scholarships  in  the 
School  of  Philosophy,  according  to  the  terms  of  Mr. 
Sage's  endowment,  and  also  two  President  White  schol- 
arships in  History  and  Political  Science,  two  fellow- 
ships in  Political  Economy  and  Finance,  two  fellowships 
in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  one  fellowship  in  American 
History.  At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees  held  October 
8,  1893,  ten  additional  graduate  scholarships  were  es- 
tablished of  the  annual  value  of  $300  each,  and  five  ad- 
ditional fellowships  of  the  annual  value  of  $500  each. 
At  the  same  time  the  value  of  each  of  the  existing 
graduate  scholarships  and  fellowships  was  increased 
by  $100  per  year. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    OPENING    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY 

^T  the  opening  of  the  university,  Morrill  Hall 
/^       stood  alone  upon  the  brow  of  a  hill  in  an 

r — %  open  field.  There  was  no  street  across  the 
-^  ^-  university  grounds,  where  Central  Avenue 
now  runs,  and  no  bridge  spanning  Cascadilla  Creek. 
The  crowds  of  people  ascended  the  hill  through  the 
cemetery,  or  wound  along  the  dusty  way  which  passed 
the  grounds  of  the  present  McGraw-Fiske  house;  or 
the  bolder  followed  the  bank  of  the  creek  beyond  Cas- 
cadilla, to  a  place  just  north  of  the  site  of  the  present 
iron  bridge,  where,  by  climbing  half-way  down  the 
bank,  they  reached  the  top  of  a  ladder  which  they  de- 
scended; they  then  crossed  the  stream  upon  two  or 
three  boards  supported  loosely  upon  timbers,  and 
climbing  the  opposite  bank  by  a  similar  ladder, 
scrambled  to  the  top  through  brushwood  and  forest 
until  they  reached  the  open  orchard  north  of  the  pres- 
ent lodge  of  the  Psi  Upsilon  fraternity.  They  then 
followed  the  line  of  a  rambling  stone  wall  which  marked 
the  boundary  of  the  university  property  to  the  west, 
along  the  crest  of  the  ridge  in  front  of  the  present  row 
of  professors'  cottages  on  Central  Avenue.  Two  ra- 
vines of  considerable  depth  had  to  be  crossed  to  reach 
the  eminence  where  the  library  building  now  stands, 
and  where  the  bells  had  been  mounted  on  a  rough 
framework  of  timber, 

Wg  have  been  permitted  to  use  the  accompanying 
contemporary  account  of  the  inauguration  of  the  uni- 
versity, by  George  William  Curtis,  which,  however, 
veils  his  own  graceful  participation  in  that  event. 

161 


162     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

*'  In  the  very  height  of  the  presidential  campaign, 
one  bright  autumn  morning  was  hailed  in  the  pleasant 
town  of  Ithaca,  in  New  York,  with  ringing  bells  and 
thundering  cannon,  but  for  no  political  celebration 
whatever.  Had  the  little  town,  dreaming  upon  the 
shore  of  the  lake  so  long,  suddenly  resolved  that  it 
would  justify  the  classic  name  with  which  Surveyor- 
General  De  Witt  blessed  its  beginning,  and  as  old 
Ithaca  produced  a  wise  man,  so  the  new  should  produce 
wise  menf  The  surveyor  who  so  liberally  diffused  so 
Greek  and  Roman  a  system  of  names  through  the  hap- 
less wilderness  of  Central  New  York  half  a  century 
ago,  would  have  smiled  with  delight  to  see  the  town 
decorated  through  all  its  broad  and  cheerful  streets 
with  the  yellow  and  red  of  autumn,  and  ringing  its 
bells  of  joy  because  a  university  was  to  oi^en  its  gates 
that  day.  But  old  Paris,  Salamanca  and  Bologna, 
Salerno  and  Padua,  Gottingen  and  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge would  surely  have  failed  to  recognize  a  sister 
could  they  have  looked  into  Ithaca.  Indeed  they  would 
have  felt  plucked  by  the  beard,  and  yet  they  would 
have  seen  only  their  fair,  legitimate  descendant. 

''  The  hotels  and  the  streets  and  the  private  houses 
were  evidently  full  of  strangers.  Around  the  solid 
brick  building,  over  the  entrance  of  which  was  written 
'  The  Cornell  Library,'  there  was  a  moving  crowd, 
and  a  throng  of  young  men  poured  in  and  out  at  the 
door,  and  loitered,  vaguely  expectant,  upon  the  steps. 
By  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  there  were  two  or  three 
hundred  young  men  answering  to  a  roll-call  at  a  side 
door,  and  the  hall  above  was  filled  with  the  citizens. 
Presently  the  young  men  pressed  in,  and  a  procession 
entered  the  hall  and  ascended  the  platform.  Prayer 
and  music  followed,  and  then  a  tall  man,  spare,  yet  of 
a  rugged  frame  and  slightly  stooping,  his  whole  aspect 
marking  an  indomitable  will,  stood  up  and  read  a  brief. 


I  ^  A 


Ji 


FOUNDER  AND   FACULTY   OF   CORNELL   UNIVERSITY,   1808-60 


CORNELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY     163 

simple,  clear,  and  noble  address.  It  said  modestly 
that  this  was  but  the  beginning  of  an  institution  of 
learning  for  those  upon  whom  fortune  had  omitted  to 
smile ;  an  institution  in  which  any  person  could  acquire 
any  instruction  in  any  branch  of  knowledge,  and  in 
which  every  branch  should  be  equally  honorable. 
Every  word  hit  the  mark,  and  the  long  and  sincere  ap- 
plause that  followed  the  close  of  the  little  speech 
showed  how  fully  every  word  had  been  weighed  and 
how  truly  interpreted.  But  the  face  and  voice  of  the 
speaker  were  unchanged  throughout.  Those  who  best 
knew  what  he  had  done  and  what  he  was  doing,  knew 
with  what  sublime  but  wholly  silent  enthusiasm  he  had 
devoted  his  life  and  all  his  powers  to  the  work.  But 
the  stranger  saw  only  a  sad,  reserved  earnestness,  and 
gazed  with  interest  at  a  man  whose  story  will  long  be 
told  with  gratitude  and  admiration," 

After  a  graceful  and  felicitous  speech  from  the 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  state,  an  ex-officio  trustee, 
the  president  of  the  new  university  arose  to  deliver  his 
inaugural  address.  Of  a  most  winning  presence, 
modest,  candid,  refined,  he  proceeded  to  sketch  the 
whole  design  and  hope  of  the  university  with  an  intel- 
ligence and  fervor  that  were  captivating.  It  was  the 
discourse  of  a  practical  thinker,  of  a  man  remarkably 
gifted  for  his  responsible  and  difficult  duty,  who 
plainly  saw  the  demand  of  the  country  and  of  the 
time  in  education,  and  who  with  sincere  reverence  for 
the  fathers  was  still  wise  enough  to  know  that  wisdom 
did  not  die  with  them.  But  when  he  came  to  speak  of 
the  man  who  had  begun  the  work  and  who  had  just 
spoken,  when  he  paused  to  deny  the  false  charges  that 
had  been  busily  and  widely  made,  the  pause  was  long, 
the  heart  could  not  stay  for  the  measured  delay  of 
words,  and  the  eloquent  emotion  consumed  the  slander 
as  a  white  heat  touches  a  withered  leaf.     It  was  a  noble 


164     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

culmination  to  a  noble  discourse ;  and  again  those  who 
were  most  familiar  with  the  men  and  the  facts,  knew 
best  how  peculiarly  fitted  to  each  other  and  to  their 
common  work  the  two  men  were. 

Ithaca  had  devoted  this  day  to  the  opening  festival 
of  her  university,  and  after  dinner,  through  a  warm 
and  boisterous  southerly  gale,  the  whole  town  seemed 
to  pour  out  and  climb  the  bold  high  hill  that  overhangs 
it.  The  autumn  haze  was  so  thick  that  nothing  distant 
could  be  seen.  Only  the  edge  of  the  lake  was  visible, 
and  the  houses  and  brilliant  trees  in  the  streets.  Upon 
the  hill  there  was  one  large  building,  and  another  rap- 
idly rising.  At  a  little  distance  from  the  finished  build- 
ing was  a  temporary  tower,  in  which  hung  the  chime 
of  bells.  In  front  of  the  tower  was  erected  a  platform, 
around  which  was  gathered  a  great  multitude,  eager 
to  attend  the  exercises  which  were  to  mark  the  pres- 
entation of  the  chime  of  bells. 

The  wild  wind  blew,  but  the  presiding  officer  made 
a  pleasant  speech  of  welcome,  and  then  the  chime  of 
bells  was  presented  to  the  university  in  an  address  of 
great  beauty  and  fitness. 

address  of  mr.  festch 

''  Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees: — I  am  commissioned  by  Miss  McGraw  to 
present  to  you  this  chime  of  bells  for  the  use  of  the 
university;  and  to  ask  your  acceptance  of  the  gift  as 
a  token  of  her  interest  in  the  enterprise  which,  to-day, 
so  hopefully  and  bravely  begins  its  work. 

"  She  has  watched  its  development,  from  the  dawn 
of  the  grand  purpose  in  the  mind  of  its  projector, 
through  clouds  that  often  obscured,  and  amid  storms 
that  sometimes  assailed  it,  until  now  as  it  emerges  into 
sunlight  and  begins  its  generous  toil,  she  brings  you  a 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     165 

useful  and  beautiful  gift,  with  as  much  of  pleasure  in 
the  giving  as  you,  I  am  assured,  will  feel  in  receiving 
it  at  her  hands. 

"  The  same  energy  and  rapidity  of  execution  which 
in  a  few  brief  years  has  given  us  a  university,  manned 
and  equipped,  and  ready  to  begin  its  centuries  of  work, 
has  enabled  her  to  give  you  these  bells  to-day.  In 
eighteen  days  they  were  molded,  cast,  brought  to  these 
hills,  and  placed  in  their  temporary  abode,  waiting  to 
add  their  music  to  the  general  joy,  and  weave  into 
melody  the  hope  and  happiness  of  the  hour. 

''  Of  these  bells  there  are  nine.  One  of  them  is  the 
worker  of  the  flock.  It  will  call  your  young  men  from 
their  slumbers ;  summon  them  to  each  of  the  duties  of 
the  day;  send  them  to  the  class  room  and  lecture; 
parcel  out  the  hours,  and  guide  and  rule  the  days ;  with 
a  voice,  commanding  and  uncompromising  it  may  be, 
but  with  an  undertone  of  melody  which  cannot  fail  to 
suggest  the  brave  and  vibrant  pleasure  that  underlies 
all  healthful  work  both  of  teacher  and  of  scholar. 

"  The  rest — silent  while  the  imperious  worker 
clangs  his  call  to  work — will  add  their  voices  in  the 
stillness  and  calm  of  the  Sabbath  mornings,  in  the  se- 
rene peace  of  the  Sabbath  evenings,  and  waft  over  hill 
and  valley  and  lake,  stilling  its  waves  to  listen,  the 
grand  melodies  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  silence 
forever  the  false  tale  that,  because  all  modes  of  Chris- 
tian worship  are  respected  here,  all  Christian  creeds 
permitted,  with  the  same  broad  toleration  which  is  the 
crown  and  glory  of  our  free  republic,  therefore  there 
is  no  moral  force,  no  religious  culture  here.  Ringing 
their  solemn  chimes  upon  the  Sabbaths  of  the  year, 
their  exultant  notes  upon  the  festivals  of  the  nation, 
their  clearest  and  purest  tones  will  be  reserved  for  that 
day  of  the  University  set  apart  to  the  faithful  remem- 
brance of  the  generous  heart  and  toiling  hand  that 


166     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

have  set  this  crown  of  learning  upon  the  hills ;  and  dis- 
tant be  the  day  when  a  tone  of  sadness  shall  moan 
among  the  melodies  of  these  chimes  because  that  gen- 
erous heart  is  still,  and  that  toiling  hand  at  rest. 

' '  All  things  teach  us  lessons ;  this  golden  day  of  Oc- 
tober, the  brown  drift  of  the  autumn  leaves,  the  roar 
of  the  water  among  the  rocks,  the  wrestle  of  the  wind 
with  yonder  pines.  These  bells  will  teach  us  lessons  if 
we  but  learn  to  interpret  their  tones. 

"  Young  gentlemen  of  the  University,  what  will  the 
bells  say  to  you?  They  are  the  generous  gift  of  a 
lady;  therefore  never  forget  to  be  gentlemen;  not  in 
the  flippant  society  sense  of  the  term,  which  means 
gloves,  perfumes,  idleness,  but,  in  that  broad  and 
grand  old  meaning,  which  blends  honest  and  useful 
labor,  spotless  integrity,  respect  for  age,  kindness  to 
the  young,  and  charity  to  all  in  the  one  word,  gentle- 
man. If  a  thoughtless  expression  rises  to  the  lips,  if  a 
hand  is  lifted  in  the  haste  of  anger,  if  tempted  to  un- 
generous or  uncourteous  deeds,  let  the  daily  voice  of 
these  bells  remind  you  that  she  who  gave  them  expects 
to  see  you  blend  with  your  manly  strength  the  kind 
heart,  the  generous  hand,  the  patient  forbearance,  the 
thoughtful  regard  for  the  rights  and  feelings  of  others 
which  make  up,  as  can  no  mere  rank,  or  wealth,  or  sta- 
tion, the  true  American  gentleman.  If  labor  grows 
weary,  labor  of  muscle  or  of  brain ;  if  the  classic  pages 
seem  dull,  the  fires  in  the  laboratory  burn  dim,  the 
figures  on  the  slate  dance  tormentingly,  the  rattle  of 
machinery  grows  painful,  the  very  stars  confused  and 
taunting;  rouse  yourselves,  as  the  great  bell  swings  in 
its  tower,  for  she  who  gave  it  gave  it  to  summon  you 
to  work;  to  steady  and  regulate  the  purpose  of  your 
lives,  to  signal  not  defeat,  but  victory;  and  looks  to 
see  you  earnest,  hopeful,  determined  workers  to 
the  end. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      167 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Faculty,  what  will  the  bells  say 
to  you?  They  are  a  woman's  gift  to  the  institution 
which  is  this  day  placed  in  your  hands.  Do  not  forget, 
as  I  am  sure  you  will  not,  when  they  summon  you  to 
your  daily  duties,  that  she  who  gave  them  would  have 
you  rule  the  young  men  committed  to  your  charge  by 
kindness  rather  than  force,  by  love  more  than  law,  by 
genial  summer  sympathy,  and  not  with  frozen  awe  and 
reverence.  Let  the  wall  of  Arctic  ice,  which  too  gen- 
erally separates  teacher  and  scholar,  for  once  be 
thawed  and  melted,  and  whatever  the  frozen  digni- 
taries, in  their  chairs  of  ice,  breathing  frost  and  look- 
ing polar  icicles,  may  elsewhere  say,  believe  me,  the 
rule  of  kindly  and  genial  intercourse,  of  unaffected 
sympathy,  of  personal  interest  and  friendship,  will 
prove  the  better  and  the  wiser  rule,  and  keep  alive 
your  memories  in  these  young  hearts  when  you  have 
gone  to  the  great  Teacher  whose  rule  is  endless  love. 
Students  are  not  convicts;  keep  prison  discipline  for 
those  whose  manhood  is  forfeit  to  the  state.  Students 
are  not  captives,  they  are  guests;  let  a  genial  hos- 
pitality usurp  the  place  of  bolts,  and  laws,  and  lurking 
spies.  Students  are  not  natural  rebels;  if  quick, 
spirited,  impulsive,  yet  more  easily  guided  by  the 
silken  rein,  the  steadying  word,  the  friendly  touch  than 
by  the  bloody  bit  and  whirr  of  the  vindictive  lash. 
You  need  not  heed  prophecies  of  failure.  They  who 
urge  you  to  this  rule  of  love  were  students  once  and 
feel  and  know  that  you  will  never  appeal  in  vain  to 
the  instinctive  manliness  of  the  student-heart.  Let, 
then,  that  rule  of  kindness,  which  she  who  gives  you 
this  gift  to-day  most  earnestly  approves,  at  once  pre- 
vail, and  among  the  hundreds  crowding  to  your  doors, 
none  worth  your  care,  none  fit  to  learn,  none  rightfully 
here,  will  bring  your  experiment  to  failure — not  one! 

' '  Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  what  will  the 


168     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

bells  say  to  you  I  I  repeat  once  more — they  are  a 
woman's  gift.  Do  not  think  that  while  with  imselfish 
purpose  she  seeks  to  aid  and  encourage  this  noble  ef- 
fort to  bring  the  highest  and  broadest  culture  within 
the  reach  of  the  young  men  of  the  land,  that  she  at  all 
forgets,  that  she  ever  can  forget,  the  need  and  the  long- 
ing of  her  sisters,  all  over  the  nation,  for  the  same  high 
culture,  the  same  broad  and  liberal  education.  A  gen- 
erous forethought  has  opened  the  door  to  high  intelli- 
gence and  culture  for  the  daughters  of  the  wealthier 
classes,  but  the  daughters  of  the  poor  will  knock  at 
your  doors.  Bid  them  be  patient,  if  you  will,  till  your 
new  enterprise  is  consolidated,  till  the  time  is  propi- 
tious, and  the  way  is  clear.  But  let  them  see  and 
know,  meanwhile,  that  your  hand  is  on  the  lock  of  the 
closed  door,  waiting  only  the  safe  moment  to  throw  it 
wide  that  they  may  enter  in;  and  then,  rescued  from 
frivolous  lives,  emancipated  from  the  infamous  tyr- 
anny of  fashion,  apart  from  the  giddy  and  painted  but- 
terflies that  flash  and  die,  feel  the  inspiration  of  lofty 
aims  and  noble  purposes,  vindicate  not  merely  the 
swiftness  but  the  strength  of  the  woman-mind,  and 
elevate  and  ennoble  the  sex,  while  the  chimes  their  sis- 
ter gave  ring  clearer  and  sweeter  on  the  air  as  they 
celebrate  the  justice  and  mercy  at  last. 

' '  Citizens  of  Ithaca,  you  with  whom  I  have  lived  from 
my  cradle,  and  probably  shall  to  my  grave,  what  will 
these  bells  say  to  you?  Hitherto  you  have  gone  your 
way,  quietly  and  soberly  enough,  in  the  store,  in  the 
workshop,  in  the  office,  in  the  fields;  contented  if  each 
day  added  moderately  to  your  gains,  but  with  little  to 
stimulate  you  to  a  life  beyond  that  of  your  daily  toil. 
But,  to-day,  there  is  a  new  sound  upon  your  hills ;  these 
bells  will  ring  you  on  to  higher  lives,  to  nobler  pur- 
poses. They  will  tell  you  that  new  elements  are  here, 
and  new  duties  to  be  done.     Never  shut  your  ears  to 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     169 

these  college  chimes  because  they  remind  you  of  the 
example  this  day  set.  Never  let  it  be  said  that  you 
have  had  neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  great  enterprise 
which  some  day  will  make  your  homes  classic  ground. 
If  you  could  read,  as  I  have  done,  in  letters  counted  by 
the  thousand,  from  the  boy  of  the  pine  woods  of  Maine, 
to  the  poor  lad  of  the  western  plains,  the  almost 
piteous  appeals,  not  for  money,  nor  for  bread,  but  for 
the  means,  by  any  toil  or  by  any  sacrifice,  of  educating 
themselves  for  better  and  nobler  lives;  if  you  could 
know,  as  I  have  known,  how  great  a  blessing,  how 
broad  a  kindness  could  be  here  bestowed,  I  think  no 
man  among  you  would  stand  with  folded  hands  and  si- 
lent lips.  Aid  and  encourage,  support  and  sustain,  I 
pray  you,  this  Institution  so  generously  founded  at 
your  doors ;  and,  in  the  coming  years,  the  sound  of  its 
morning  and  evening  bells  will  fall  upon  you  in  the 
valley  like  thanks — like  more  than  thanks — like  a  bene- 
diction. 

"  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  I  have  only  now  to  fulfill  the  commission  en- 
trusted me,  and  which  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  duties 
of  my  life,  with  the  closing  words  of  gift. 

"  These  hells  are  noiv  yours — given  cheerfully, 
given  gladly,  given  hopefully;  given  with  the  best 
wishes  of  a  kind  heart  to  all  for  whom  their  chimes 
shall  ring;  given  in  full  trust  and  confidence  that  you, 
and  I,  and  all  who  have  in  any  degree  the  care  of  this 
great  work, will  fail  in  no  duty  and  prove  recreant  to  no 
trust. 

''  Let  the  memory  of  their  giver  make  them  sacred 
from  injury  or  harm;  let  them  ring  always  harmonies 
and  never  discords ;  let  them  infuse  into  the  College  life, 
and  interweave  among  its  sober  threads  of  practical 
study  and  toil,  some  love  of  art  and  lines  of  grace  and 
beauty ;  let  them  teach  the  excellence  of  order  and  sys- 


170     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

tern,  and,  above  all,  let  them  gather  the  wandering 
thoughts,  the  restless  hopes,  the  absorbing  ambitions 
about  that  throne  where  reigns  eternal  knowledge, 
eternal  peace. 

"  As  I  give  you  these  bells,  in  behalf  of  her  whose 
name  I  trust  their  melody  will  always  commemorate,  it 
is  fitting  perhaps  that  no  longer  standing  between  them 
and  you,  no  more  seeking  feebly  to  interpret  their 
voices,  I  should  bid  them  ring  their  own  lesson,  chime 
their  own  welcome;  and  this  I  can  do,  perhaps,  in  no 
worthier  phrase  than  in  the  words  inscribed  upon 
them ;  words  of  a  great  English  poet,  destined  to  live 
forever;  words  of  the  older  education  carved  among 
the  melodies  of  the  new;  words  that  with  wide  com- 
mand tell  us  what  the  bells  shall  say  forever : 

FIRST  BELL. 

Ring  out  the  old — ring  in  the  new ; 
Ring  out  the  false — ring  in  the  true ; 

SECOND    BELL. 
Ring  out  the  grief  that  saps  the  mind ; 
Ring  in  redress  for  all  mankind. 

THIRD  BELL. 

Ring  out  a  slowly  dying  cause, 
And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife : 

FOURTH  BELL. 

Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life, 
With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws. 

FIFTH  BELL. 

Ring  out  false  pride  in  place  and  blood ; 
Ring  in  the  common  love  of  good. 

SIXTH    BELL. 

Ring  out  the  slander  and  the  spite; 
Ring  in  the  love  of  truth  and  right. 

SEVENTH  BELL. 
Ring  out  the  narrowing  lust  of  gold ; 
Ring  out  the  thousand  wars  of  old ; 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     171 

EIGHTH  BELL. 

Ring  out  old  shapes  of  foul  disease; 
Ring  in  the  thousand  years  of  Peace. 

NINTH   BELL. 

Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 

The  larger  heart  and  kindlier  hand ; 

Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land; 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 

After  a  few  words  of  reception  from  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  the  chimes  rang  out  "  Old  Hundred  "  far 
over  the  silent  lake  and  among  the  autumn  hills.  For 
the  first  time  that  strange  and  exquisite  music  was 
heard  by  the  little  town,  "  Ring  out,  wild  bells,  to  the 
wild  sky,"  and  the  heavy  gale  caught  the  sound  and 
whirled  it  away.  ' '  Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, ' ' 
and  the  wind  was  whist,  and  the  heart  of  the  multi- 
tude unconsciously  responded  Amen.  Then  Professor 
Agassiz — Louis,  the  well-beloved, — fresh  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  magnetized  the  crowd  with  his  pres- 
ence and  his  wise  and  hearty  words ;  and  with  two  or 
three  more  addresses,  and  another  peal  of  the  chimes, 
the  Cornell  University  was  formally  dedicated.  The 
sun  was  sinking,  a  fire-ball  in  the  haze,  as  the  people 
dispersed.  The  hour  and  the  occasion  were  alike 
solemn;  and  with  meditative  feet,  his  fancy  peering 
into  the  future,  the  latest  loiterer  descended. 

The  Great  Tenth  Bell,  called  the  "  Magna  Maria," 
arrived  in  Ithaca,  June  18,  1869,  and  was  formally 
presented  to  the  university  on  June  30,  1869,  at  the 
Commencement  exercises. 

On  the  bell  are  the  following  inscriptions.  On  one 
side: 

"The  Gift  of 

Mary 

Wife  of  Andrew  D.  White, 

First  President 

of 

Cornell  University, 

1869." 


172     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 
Below  are  the  following  words : 

"  To  tell  of  thy  loving-kindness  early  in  the  morning,  and  of  thy 
truth  in  the  night  season." 

On  the  other  side  are  the  following  lines  composed  by 
James  Russell  Lowell : 

' '  I  call  as  fly  the  irrevocable  hours, 
Futile  as  air  or  strong  as  fate  to  make 
Your  lives  of  sand  or  granite  ;  awful  powers, 
Even  as  men  choose,  they  either  give  or  take." 

Below  are  the  following: 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  to- 
ward men." 

Professor  Caldwell  has  thus  described  the  inaugu- 
ration of  studies:  ''  On  the  twenty-second  day  of 
September,  twenty-five  years  ago,  about  a  dozen  men, 
of  whom  but  three  are  now  in  the  faculty,  assembled 
in  a  small  room  of  the  Cornell  Library  building  down 
in  the  town,  where  the  light  was  almost  as  scanty  as  in 
a  photographer's  dark  room,  and  held  the  first  meet- 
ing of  the  faculty  of  Cornell  University.  A  little 
later  other  appointments  were  made,  so  that  the  first 
Register  gave  a  list  of  twenty-three  professors,  of 
whom  six  are  now  here.  On  the  sixth  of  October,  the 
first  entrance  examinations  were  held  in  a  large  base- 
ment room  of  the  Cornell  Library  building  down  in  the 
town,  under  the  general  direction  of  the  first  registrar, 
Dr.  Wilson. 

' '  The  English  examinations  were  held  in  one  corner 
of  the  room,  the  examination  in  mathematics  in  an- 
other corner,  the  geography  in  another,  and,  when  all 
the  corners  were  filled,  where  there  was  light  enough 
to  write  by,  the  lesser  examinations  were  sandwiched 
in  between.  In  these  examinations  all  helped;  a  pro- 
fessor of  chemistry  had  charge  of  the  orthography. 
It  might  have  been  wise  to  have  first  examined  the  pro- 
fessor himself  in  that  branch  of  English;  indeed,  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     173 

earliest  records  of  the  faculty  present  incontrovertible 
evidence  that  the  spelling  of  at  least  one  of  its  members 
was  not  altogether  beyond  criticism.  But  there  was 
no  time  for  any  such  test  of  the  ability  of  the  exam- 
iners to  do  the  work  assigned  to  them,  and  they  had  to 
be  taken  on  trust.  A  professor  appointed  to  teach  in 
one  of  the  departments  of  natural  history  had,  I  believe, 
to  look  after  the  examination  in  algebra;  and  so  one 
and  another  of  us  was  temporarily  drafted  into  this 
unanticipated  service. 

''  The  crudity  of  this  arrangement  for  the  entrance 
examinations,  as  compared  with  the  present  methods, 
was  no  greater  than  the  crudity  of  everything  else  in 
those  days.  Rickety  barns  and  slovenly  barn-yards 
offended  the  senses  where  the  extension  of  Sibley  Col- 
lege is  now  going  up;  the  second  university  building, 
now  called  White  Hall,  simply  protruded  out  of  an 
excavation,  the  top  of  which  reached  nearly  to  the 
second-story  windows  at  one  end.  The  ventilation  of 
the  chemical  laboratory,  in  the  basement  of  Morrill 
Hall,  was  partly  into  the  library  and  reading  room 
above  it ;  readers  there,  not  being  chemists,  did  not  find 
the  chemical  odors  agreeable.  An  ancient  Virginia 
rail  fence  traversed  the  site  of  this  building,  and  its 
neighbor,  Boardman  Hall;  the  minutes  of  the  faculty 
show  that  before  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  modest 
request  was  made  of  the  founder  of  the  university,  that 
he  permit  said  fence  to  be  moved  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  further  to  the  south,  in  order  that  there  might  be  a 
sufficiently  large  piece  of  level  ground  adjoining  the 
campus  for  the  military  evolutions,  and  for  ball  games. 

'^  Bridges,  sidewalks,  and  even  a  road  between  the 
one  university  building  and  Cascadilla,  the  one  home 
where  almost  everybody  connected  with  the  university 
lived,  either  did  not  exist  at  all,  or  were  only  partially 
completed.    It  was  a  long  time  before  the  multitude  of 


174     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

foot-tracks  was  obliterated,  made  by  the  passing  of 
teachers  and  students  down  and  up  the  banks  of  the 
ravine  north  of  the  site  of  the  gymnasium ;  when  snow, 
slush,  and  mud  alternated  with  each  other  in  Novem- 
ber, even  a  professor  sometimes  forgot  his  dignity  and 
slid  down  the  bank,  and  by  inadvertence  not  always  all 
the  way  down  on  his  feet  either ;  the  hearty  sympathy 
bestowed  upon  such  an  unfortunate  by  student  spec- 
tators can  be  imagined,  if  not  believed  in. 

*'  "What  those  teachers  and  students  would  have 
done  without  Cascadilla  for  shelter  it  would  be  hard  to 
say;  for  the  people  of  the  town  had  apparently  not 
then  learned  that  there  was  money  in  taking  boarders ; 
nor  were  there  hardly  more  than  a  dozen  dwelling 
houses  nearer  the  university  than  half-way  up  East 
Hill.  So  Cascadilla  was  full  from  basement  to  attic; 
and  a  professor  who  had  not  lived  there  at  all  was, 
in  later  times,  hardly  considered  by  his  colleagues  as 
having  fully  earned  his  right  to  be  a  professor  in  the 
university. 

''  There  was  no  heating  apparatus  in  any  students' 
rooms,  and  on  some  of  the  rooms  there  were  no  doors. 
We  were  destitute  of  the  most  ordinary  conveniences, 
even  those  demanded  by  decency.  Our  library, 
models,  apparatus,  and  collections  of  various  sorts 
were  scattered  at  various  points  in  England,  France, 
and  Germany,  and  our  own  country.  Our  farm  was 
unorganized.  Such  books  as  were  here  could  not  be 
read  for  want  of  arrangement.  The  apparatus  which 
had  arrived  could  not  be  used  for  want  of  cases  in 
which  to  safely  keep  it.  We  had  no  laboratory,  save 
some  rude  tables  in  a  cellar.  Our  lecture  and  recita- 
tion room  accommodations  were  wretchedly  insuffi- 
cient, and  the  dormitory  rooms  gave  but  a  small  part 
of  the  accommodation  required  by  so  great  a  number 
of  students  so  suddenly  poured  into  the  town." 


.  i  CHAPTER  XII 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    PRESIDENT   WHITE 

THE  plan  of  organization  indicates  the  char- 
acter which  the  new  university  assumed, 
and  upon  the  basis  of  which  it  was  con- 
ducted. The  university  may  be  regarded  as 
especially  fortunate  in  the  choice  of  the  first  professors 
elected.  They  were,  in  general,  young  men  whose  rep- 
utation and  scholarship  were  such  as  to  promise  high 
success  in  the  administration  of  the  departments  of  in- 
struction to  which  they  were  called.  Professor  Evan 
W.  Evans,  the  first  professor  nominated,  was  born  in 
Wales.  He  had  graduated  with  high  honor  at  Yale, 
and  been  instructor  in  mathematics  in  that  institution, 
and  afterward  a  professor  in  Marietta  College,  Ohio. 
He  had  contributed  to  Silliman's  Journal,  and  was  the 
author  of  a  text-book  in  mathematics.  His  interest  in 
the  language  of  his  native  country  led  him  to  pursue 
studies  in  the  Cymric  literature  and  philology,  in 
which  he  had  no  superior  in  the  United  States.  The 
editor  of  the  leading  foreign  review  of  Welsh  litera- 
ture has  stated  that  Professor  Evans  was  the  only 
American  scholar  whose  researches  in  that  language 
had  received  distinguished  recognition  abroad.  Stu- 
dents of  those  early  days  will  bear  him  in  grateful 
memory.  His  instruction  was  marked  by  admirable 
clearness,  and  left  the  impression  that  the  form  in 
which  it  had  been  presented  was  almost  the  final  form 
of  definite  and  precise  statement.  Although  a  silent 
man,  his  judgment  upon  all  questions  of  organization 
in  those  early  days  of  the  university,  was  of  great 

175 


176     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

value;  that  loyalty  to  conviction,  and  to  friendship, 
which  is  characteristic  of  his  nation,  made  Professor 
Evans's  association  valued  by  all  his  colleagues. 

Dr.  George  C.  Caldwell  had  been  an  early  student  of 
those  subjects  upon  which  the  science  of  agriculture 
rests,  when  the  general  knowledge  of  the  same  was 
largely  empirical.  His  work  upon  agricultural  chem- 
istry had  already  won  favorable  recognition.  He  had 
studied  the  methods  of  agricultural  instruction  abroad, 
especially  at  the  famous  Agricultural  College  of  Ciren- 
cester, England,  and  had  afterward  received  his  de- 
gree at  the  University  of  Gottingen.  A  scholar  of  ex- 
cellent judgment,  careful  and  exact  in  all  his  work,  his 
studies  have  contributed  to  the  reputation  of  the  uni- 
versity in  his  department. 

Professor  Eli  W.  Blake  had  graduated  both  in  the 
academic  and  scientific  departments  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity, and  had  studied  later  at  the  University  of 
Heidelberg.  He  had  been  professor  of  physics  in  the 
University  of  Vermont,  and,  at  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion, was  acting  professor  in  Columbia  College.  While 
his  residence  here  was  confined  to  two  years,  his  work 
bore  the  impress  of  a  versatile  and  enthusiastic 
scholar,  as  well  as  an  independent  thinker  and  col- 
league. 

Professor  James  M.  Crafts,  professor  of  general  and 
analytical  chemistry,  was  a  graduate  of  the  Harvard 
Scientific  School,  and  had  studied  afterward  in  France 
and  Germany.  Some  of  his  original  investigations 
had  already  been  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
French  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  in  Silliman's  Jour- 
nal. At  the  time  of  his  election  he  was  an  assistant  in 
the  Lawrence  Scientific  School.  Although  his  connec- 
tion with  the  university  was  limited  on  account  of  ill 
health,  the  private  investigations  which  he  has  since 
pursued  in  France  and  in  this  country,  have  made  him 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      177 

one  of  the  most  eminent  chemists  that  America  has 
produced.  He  became  later  a  professor  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology. 

Dr.  Burt  G.  Wilder  was  a  graduate  of  the  Lawrence 
Scientific  School,  and  a  favorite  pupil  of  Professor 
Agassiz.  He  had  already  won  reputation  as  a  con- 
tributor to  various  scientific  and  popular  journals,  and 
had  published  some  extremely  curious  and  interesting 
investigations  upon  the  silk-spinning  spiders  of  the 
South  which  had  attracted  attention.  He  had  also 
served  as  an  assistant  surgeon  in  the  army  during  the 
Civil  War.  During  his  residence  in  the  university 
he  has  trained  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  devoted 
scientists  of  this  country.  In  investigations  in  the 
structure  of  the  brain,  and  the  nervous  structure 
of  men  and  animals,  and  in  the  advocacy  of  a  uni- 
form system  of  nomenclature  in  anatomy,  he  has 
been  one  of  the  most  active  and  influential  representa- 
tives. 

Professor  Albert  N.  Prentiss  was  one  of  the  first 
graduates  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College — the 
first  institution  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States.  His 
scientific  investigations  had  been  of  high  merit,  and  he 
possessed  unusual  ability  as  an  organizer.  To  his 
taste  and  skill  as  a  landscape  gardener  much  of  the 
beauty  of  the  university  grounds  is  due.  Few  botan- 
ists in  this  country  have  trained  so  many  eminent 
scholars.  To  a  character  of  great  refinement  and  gen- 
tleness, he  added  a  passionate  love  of  nature,  personal 
courtesy  and  capacity  for  friendship.  He  had  pub- 
lished anonymously  one  or  two  novels  which  received 
favorable  notice,  though  his  authorship  was  known 
only  to  his  most  intimate  friends. 

Mr.  Lebbeus  H.  Mitchell,  whose  name  appears  in 
the  early  announcements  as  professor  of  mining  and 
metallurgy,  never  entered  upon  his  duties.    A  man  of 


178     COENELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY 

ability,  but  of  restless  and  unsettled  nature,  his  char- 
acter was  the  index  of  his  life.  A  soldier  in  the  Civil 
War,  later  an  explorer  in  Abyssinia,  and  at  one  time  a 
captive  there,  he  served  for  a  time  also  as  vice  consul- 
general  in  London. 

Professor  Law,  although  young,  had  already  become 
eminent  by  his  contributions  to  veterinary  science. 
Professor  Wheeler  was  known  as  an  admirable  clas- 
sical teacher,  and  Professor  Morris's  training  had 
fitted  him  to  organize  instruction  in  the  new  field  of 
practical  mechanics. 

On  July  3,  1868,  President  White  wrote  to  Mr.  Cor- 
nell that  he  had  engaged  Goldwin  Smith  as  professor 
of  English  history,  and  said : 

' '  Of  Goldwin  Smith,  I  need  not  speak ;  no  man  has 
a  more  noble  reputation  here  or  in  America.  He  was 
one  of  those  in  the  high  places  here  who  stood  by  us  in 
our  fearful  struggle,  first,  last,  and  always,  and  his 
ability  places  him  among  the  foremost  historians  of 
this  century.  He  enters  heartily  into  our  plan,  and 
from  England  goes  to  America  for  a  term  of  years, 
during  which  he  desires  to  prepare  a  general  history  of 
the  development  of  American  civilization.  He  had 
thought  of  taking  up  his  residence  at  Providence,  but 
now  thinks  of  going  to  the  shores  of  Cayuga  Lake.  He 
is  attracted  in  our  direction  by  the  quiet  of  our  neigh- 
borhood— by  our  library,  and  by  hopes  of  pleasant  as- 
sociation with  our  professors." 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith's  name  appeared  in  the 
first  general  announcement  as  non-resident  professor 
of  history.  In  the  first  catalogue  he  appears  as  pro- 
fessor of  English  and  constitutional  history.  In  the 
second  catalogue,  which  was  issued  in  the  same  year 
(1868-69),  he  appears  as  non-resident  professor  of 
English  history.  Professor  Smith  brought  to  the  uni- 
versity not  only  the  ripest  scholarship,  but  an  unusual 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      179 

sympathy  with  the  aims  of  a  new  institution.    He  was 
willing  to  see  it  tested  by  the  demands  of  this  country 
and  shaped  by  national  needs.     In  a  letter  expressing 
his   desire   to  be   present   at   the   opening,   he   said: 
**  You  say  you  wish  I  could  be  with  you;  so  I  do,  be- 
cause the  occasion  will  be  one  of  the  deepest  interest; 
but  you  would  not  persuade  me  to  give  you  any  ad- 
vice.    I  know  too  well  the  difference  between  the  old 
and  the  new  world;  at  least  the  only  advice  I  should 
give  you  would  be,  without  ignoring  the  educational  ex- 
perience of  Europe,  to  act  quite  independently  of  it, 
and  to  remain  uninfluenced  either  in  the  way  of  imi- 
tation or  antagonism  by  our  educational  institutions 
or  ideas.     The  question  of  academic  education  on  this 
side  of  the  water  is  mixed  up  with  historical  accidents, 
and  with  political  struggles,  to  which  on  your  side 
there  are  happily  no  counterparts.  .  .  .  What  I  would 
say  is,  adapt  your  practical  education,  which  must 
be  the  basis  of  the  whole,  to  the  practical  needs  of 
American  life,  and  for  the  general  culture   take  those 
subjects  which  are  most  important  and  interesting  to 
the  citizen  and  the  man.    Whatever  part  may  be  as- 
signed to  my  subject  in  the  course  of  general  culture, 
I  will  do  what  I  can  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  authori- 
ties of  the  university  without  exaggerating  the  value 
of  the  subject,  or  unduly  extending  its  sphere."     Pro- 
fessor Smith's  contribution  to  the  study  of  history  in 
this  university  possessed  a  value  which  cannot  be  over- 
estimated.    During  the  first  years  of  the  history  of  the 
university  he  lectured  usually  twice  a  week  for  two 
terms  in  a  year.     He  delivered  lectures  upon  the  gen- 
eral and  constitutional  history  of  England.     It  is  per- 
haps not  too  much  to  say  that,  at  that  time,  no  such 
lectures  upon  history  had  ever  been  delivered  in  this 
country.     Professor  Smith  is  a  brilliant  word  painter, 
with  unsurpassed  power  of  grouping  the  essential  facts 


180     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

relating  to  a  given  period  or  character,  so  as  to  leave  a 
clear  and  vivid  impression  upon  the  mind.  A  char- 
acter was  mirrored  in  a  sentence ;  the  entire  philosophy 
of  a  period  was  compressed  into  one  terse  picturesque 
statement.  Associated  with  all,  was  a  lofty  moral 
judgment  presiding  over  the  acts  of  nations  and  of  m- 
dividuals,  meting  out  with  rigorous  truthfulness  a 
nation's  falsity  to  its  ideals,  or  the  fatal  weakness  of 
some  great  character.  This  inflexible  moral  standard 
pervaded  his  judgments,  as  it  has  pervaded  his  atti- 
tude toward  every  living  question  which  has  affected 
this  nation  since  his  residence  among  us.  Professor 
Smith  was  in  sympathy  with  American  institutions. 
He  regarded  the  republican  government  as  the  noblest 
and  grandest  achievement  of  the  human  race,  and  its 
struggle  for  freedom  and  liberty  as  the  noblest  strug- 
gle, demanding  sympathy,  admiration,  and  recognition. 
When  we  consider  that  Professor  Smith  was  an  English- 
man, who  had  only  once  before  visited  America,  we 
must  regard  his  thorough  identification  with  the  uni- 
versity, and  with  all  its  interests,  as  one  of  the  most 
valuable  gifts  in  its  history.  Soon  after  his  arrival, 
finding  how  imperfect  was  the  equipment  for  literary 
and  historical  study,  he  sent  to  England  for  his  own 
private  library,  consisting  of  3,400  volumes,  the  choice 
and  valued  books  of  his  university  life,  and  of  silent 
study,  and  presented  them  to  the  university.  In  the 
following  year  he  gave  $2,500  additional  for  the  pur- 
chase of  works  in  history.  Thus  he  signalized  his  de- 
votion to  a  new  university  in  a  land  distant  from  his 
own. 

A  striking  and  valuable  factor  in  the  instruction  of 
the  new  university  was  the  lectures  of  President  White, 
who,  in  addition  to  the  duties  of  the  presidency,  filled 
the  chair  of  history. 

Few  lecturers  in  the  university  were  so  interesting 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      181 

as  he.  While  positive  and  aggressive  in  opinion,  and 
pungent  in  statement,  he  always  awakened  the  interest 
of  those  who  heard  him,  and  inspired  them  to  an  in- 
terest in  the  study  of  history.  They  began  to  read, 
and  never  lost  their  enthusiasm  for  the  subject.  Mr. 
White  always  illustrated  the  bearing  of  history  upon 
the  solution  of  questions  of  modern  politics  and  so- 
cial science.  ' '  We  find  a  bold  and  vivid  treatment  of 
such  subjects  as  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire;  the 
feudal  system;  the  Crusades;  the  rise  of  cities;  Mo- 
hammedanism; chivalry;  monachism;  the  development 
of  papal  power ;  the  development  of  commerce ;  Chris- 
tian clearing  up  of  Europe;  the  rise  of  institutions  of 
learning;  growth  of  literature,  science,  and  law;  the 
laboring  classes  in  the  Middle  Ages ;  cathedral  builders, 
and  medieval  sculptors;  the  revival  of  learning;  re- 
vival of  art ;  Erasmus ;  Luther  and  the  Reformation  of 
Germany;  Luther's  character,  writings,  and  influence; 
Ulrich  von  Hutten;  Charles  the  Fifth;  Charles  the 
First;  the  Reformation  in  the  Romanic  countries;  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  Mr.  White's  special  courses  em- 
braced the  State  Life  of  Modern  Europe.  He  pre- 
pared thirty-seven  special  lectures  upon  France,  six 
upon  Italy,  three  upon  Spain,  four  upon  Austria,  six 
upon  the  Netherlands,  five  upon  Prussia,  five  upon 
Russia,  two  upon  Poland,  and  three  upon  the  Turk- 
ish power.  In  this  great  field  of  modern  historical 
politics,  France  was  evidently  his  first  choice,  and  in 
this  special  field  the  French  Revolution  was  clearly 
the  supreme  attraction. ' '  When  we  review  these  strik- 
ing and  suggestive  lectures  by  President  White  upon 
French  history,  we  can  only  regret  that  the  lectures, 
carefully  elaborated,  might  not  have  been  embodied  in 
permanent  form  and  published. 

In  choice  of  subjects,  President  White  preferred  to 
discuss  periods  and  individual  men  as  representative 


182     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

of  movements,  rather  than  the  orderly  sequence  of 
political  events.  His  lectures  were  devoted,  save,  per- 
haps, in  the  periods  of  the  history  of  the  Reforma- 
tion and  the  history  of  the  French  Revolution,  pri- 
marily to  the  history  of  culture.  He  had  prepared 
elaborate  studies  of  the  lives  of  great  artists,  and  he 
dwelt  with  especial  fondness  and  interest  upon  the 
history  of  art  as  an  expression  of  the  intellectual  life. 
He  reviewed  naturally  the  history  of  the  Church  during 
the  period  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  in  its  later  in- 
fluence upon  the  political  life  of  Europe.  He  studied 
the  influence  of  the  founders  of  the  great  religious 
orders,  but  devoted  especial  attention  at  that  time, 
and  later,  to  what  may  be  called  studies  in  abnormal 
opinions.  He  thus  prepared  an  elaborate  course  of 
lectures  upon  the  history  of  torture  and  witchcraft. 
His  later  writings  have  embodied  much  that  is  curious 
and  abnormal  in  the  history  of  individual  opinion,  and 
especially  isolated  views  of  theologians — almost  the 
sole  scholars  of  the  time, — who  did  not  possess  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  discoveries  of  modern  science,  but  who  op- 
posed numerous  theories  of  the  physical  universe, 
from  quaint  and  fanciful  reasons,  often  derived  from 
theological  speculation.  Physical  science  did  not  at 
that  time  exist.  There  were  chaotic  visions  of  some 
of  the  results  of  modern  science,  not  rising  to  the  dig- 
nity of  consistency,  nor  established  by  induction,  but 
which,  being  unsupported,  were  often  as  much  the 
product  of  the  fancy  as  the  opinions  to  which  they  were 
opposed.  They  could  not  challenge  universal  faith, 
for  they  had  no  foundation,  save  in  the  dim,  pathetic, 
and  often  beautiful  dream  of  some  solitary  scholar. 
To  withhold  acceptance  from  unestablished  truth, 
where  faith  may  be  opposed  to  unconfirmed  science,  is 
as  much  a  duty  as  the  challenge  which  conservative 
science  gives  to  unsubstantiated  scientific  theory. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      183 

The  university  thus  inaugurated,  and  accompanied 
by  the  enthusiastic  hopes  of  the  friends  of  modern  edu- 
cation, entered  at  once  upon  a  period  of  stern  limita- 
tion and  embarrassment,  from  its  restricted  resources. 
Its  wealth  was  in  the  future,  in  the  national  lands,  the 
value  of  which  would  rise  with  the  development  of  the 
industrial  prosperity  of  the  states  in  which  they  were 
located.  An  attempt  to  realize  at  once  the  proceeds 
of  these  lands  would  have  destroyed  the  benefits  which 
were  to  spring  from  Mr.  Cornell's  far-reaching  pur- 
pose. The  support  of  the  university  was  based  on  the 
income  of  Mr.  Cornell's  gift  of  $500,000  and  of  the  col- 
lege land  scrip  fund.  The  fund  last  mentioned 
amounted  to  about  $405,000.  Funds  for  the  erection 
of  buildings  had  to  be  derived  from  the  interest  on  the 
endowment.  Thus  the  university,  embodying  so  vast 
a  scheme  of  universal  education,  was  limited  from  the 
beginning  in  carrying  out  the  scheme  of  its  founders. 
The  university  grounds  were  those  of  a  country  farm, 
and  rough  in  the  extreme.  Cattle  roved  over  the 
campus  and  were  supplied  with  water  from  a  spring 
in  front  of  the  site  of  McGraw  Hall.  Anything  like 
landscape  gardening  was  beyond  the  wildest  dream  of 
any  friend  of  order  and  beauty.  From  the  funds 
which  had  accumulated  in  the  three  years  from  the 
date  of  its  charter  to  its  opening,  all  the  necessary  build- 
ings had  to  be  erected,  and  chemical  and  physical  ap- 
paratus, collections,  and  books  purchased.  The  funds 
of  the  university  were  all  needed  for  current  expenses 
without  this  additional  cost,  while  it  aimed  to  embody 
great  departments  of  instruction  which  did  not  exist  in 
other  institutions,  and  was  obliged  at  the  same  time  to 
make  provision  for  recognized  and  established  courses 
of  study.  The  faculty,  from  whom  everything  was  ex- 
pected, did  not  at  first  exceed  in  numbers  that  of  smaller 
institutions  with  a  limited  course  of  study.     Grrowth 


184      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

seemed  impossible,  and  to  maintain  upon  the  original 
scale  that  for  which  provision  had  already  been  made, 
problematic.  In  addition  to  this,  the  cost  of  non-resident 
lecturers  impaired  still  further  the  available  funds  for 
regular  departments  of  work.  A  single  building  had 
been  erected  mainly  for  a  dormitory.  No  provision  had 
been  made  for  a  university  building  with  lecture  rooms, 
museums,  and  general  offices.  At  the  same  time,  the 
cost  of  new  buildings  had  to  be  taken  from  the  regular 
annual  income,  all  of  which  was  needed  for  the  sup- 
port of  an  organized  institution  in  full  operation.  The 
limitations  and  discouragements  of  those  first  years 
can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The  only  hope  of  re- 
lief was  in  sacrificing  the  land  upon  which  the  future 
of  the  university  depended.  To  have  done  so  would 
have  reduced  the  university  at  once  to  the  scale  of  one 
of  the  smaller  colleges.  Mr.  Cornell  maintained  with 
a  tenacity  begotten  of  a  lofty  purpose  his  position  that 
the  lands  must  be  retained.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
financial  difficulties  increased.  Generous  friends  gave 
McGraw  Hall  and  Sibley  College  at  a  most  opportune 
time.  The  execution  of  the  national  trust  thus  became 
in  a  degree  possible;  but  financial  bankruptcy  seemed 
impending.  At  the  same  time  the  country  was  slowly 
approaching  the  crisis  of  1873.  Credit  and  currency, 
which  had  been  inflated  during  the  war,  had  to  assume 
a  normal  standard  and  relation  to  business  necessities. 
The  trustees  intervened  to  meet  a  deficit  of  about  $150,- 
000.  The  number  of  students,  which  had  reached  412 
the  first  year,  and  rose  in  the  third  year  to  slightly 
above  600,  declined  from  that  point.  From  1873  to 
1878  the  numbers  remained  about  the  same ;  from  1878 
to  1882  the  numbers  declined  still  further,  and  in  one 
term  of  this  year  the  number  of  students  in  attendance 
in  a  single  term  reached  only  312. 
In  the  absence  of  President  White  from  the  univer- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      185 


sity,  the  executive  duties  developed  upon  Vice-Presi- 
dent Russell,  who  performed  most  of  the  details  of 
administration  from  his  appointment  as  vice-president 
in  1870,  to  his  resignation  in  1881,  serving,  in  effect,  as 
acting  president  for  about  half  this  period.  Trained 
as  a  lawyer,  systematic  in  work,  accepting  faithfully 
the  difficult  obligation  of  subordination  where  the  in- 
itiative devolved  upon  his  superior,  with  a  traditional 
view  of  college  discipline,  active  in  all  questions  re- 
specting civic  order  and  the  well-being  of  the  com- 
munity, he  performed  during  these  years  a  large 
amount  of  essential  and  exacting  work.  If,  at  times,  a 
keenness  of  sarcasm  aroused  enmity,  not  readily  for- 
gotten, on  the  part  of  the  student  world,  and  made  his 
task  more  difficult,  he  went  on  his  way  conscientiously 
and  loyally,  with  a  devotion  to  the  university  never 
questioned. 

President  White  had  been  absent  for  five  years  in 
Europe,  with  the  exception  of  an  interval  of  seven 
months,  in  which  he  was  in  residence  from  September 
to  May  in  1878-79.  The  friends  of  the  university  felt 
that  his  presence  was  necessary.  The  alumni  passed 
resolutions  at  their  meeting  in  June,  1880,  asking  the 
trustees  to  request  his  return.  In  obedience  to  this 
action,  the  trustees  themselves  adopted  resolutions  ex- 
pressing their  sense  of  the  urgent  need  of  a  personal 
and  responsible  head  of  the  university,  and  desiring 
President  White's  return  if  consistent  with  his  plans. 
Mr.  White,  therefore,  resigned  his  position  as  minister 
to  the  court  of  Berlin  and,  in  the  fall  of  1881,  resumed 
his  position  at  the  head  of  the  university.  This  was  the 
year  of  greatest  decline  in  the  history  of  the  university. 
In  the  following  year  the  number  of  students  slightly 
increased,  but  it  was  not  until  1884-85  that  the  number 
of  students  equaled  the  record  of  thirteen  years  before. 
Since  this  time  the  growth  of  the  university  has  been 


186      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

very  rapid.  The  increase  in  the  number  of  students 
has  been  simply  the  index  of  its  interior  development. 
By  favorable  sales  of  land  the  endowment  of  the  uni- 
versity has  been  greatly  increased,  the  salaries  of  pro- 
fessors advanced,  and  large  appropriations  made  for 
fuller  equipment  and  the  erection  of  additional  build- 
ings. 

On  June  17,  1885,  President  White  tendered  his 
resignation  of  the  ofifice  of  president  of  the  university, 
it  being  nearly  nineteen  years  from  the  date  of  his 
original  election  to  that  position.  He  withdrew  in 
obedience  to  a  purpose  which  he  had  long  since  formed. 
In  presenting  his  resignation  he  said :  ' '  The  present 
meeting  completes  twenty  years  since  with  our  dear 
and  venerated  friend,  Ezra  Cornell,  I  took  part  in  se- 
curing the  charter  of  the  university,  submitted  the  plan 
of  its  organization,  and  entered  this  noble  board.  And 
now,  in  accordance  with  a  purpose  long  since  formed,  I 
hereby  present  my  resignation  as  president  and  pro- 
fessor of  history.  The  university  is  at  last  in  such 
condition  that  its  future  may  well  be  considered  secure, 
thanks  to  your  wise  administration;  its  endowment 
has  been  developed  beyond  our  expectations;  its  debt 
extinguished;  its  equipment  made  ample;  its  faculty 
increased  until  it  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  effec- 
tive in  our  country,  and  an  undergraduate  body 
brought  together,  which  by  its  numbers  and  spirit 
promises  all  that  we  can  ask  for  the  future."  After 
reviewing  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  university 
and  expressing  his  satisfaction  in  their  triumph  after 
twenty  years,  he  said:  "  At  two  different  periods 
when  about  to  leave  the  country  for  a  time,  I  have 
placed  my  resignation  in  your  hands  and  you  have 
thought  best  not  to  accept  it.  I  now  contemplate  an- 
other absence  from  the  country  in  obedience  to  what 
seems  to  me  a  duty,  and  must  respectfully  insist  that  I 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      187 

be  now  permanently  relieved  and  my  resignation 
finally  accepted.  Although  I  have  but  reached  what  is 
generally  known  as  the  middle  period  of  life,  I  feel  en- 
titled to  ask  that  the  duties  hitherto  laid  upon  me  be 
now  transferred  upon  another,  and  that  I  be  left  free 
to  take  measures  for  the  restoration  of  my  health,  to 
which  I  have  for  several  years  looked  forward  with 
longing,  and  which  I  hope  can  be  made  eventually  use- 
ful to  the  university  and  possibly  to  the  public  at 
large."  The  trustees  in  accepting  his  resignation, 
which  was  presented  with  so  much  urgency,  adopted  a 
preamble  and  resolutions.  "  The  resignation  by  An- 
drew D.  White  of  the  presidency  of  Cornell  University 
becomes  an  era  in  its  history.  For  twenty  years  he 
had  devoted  his  best  exertions,  energy,  and  industry, 
his  large  intellect  and  loyal  zeal,  to  the  organization 
and  growth  of  this  institution.  The  project  once  con- 
ceived, he,  hand  in  hand  with  its  benefactor  and 
founder,  pressed  it  to  a  successful  issue.  Their 
dreams  have  been  realized  and  their  efforts  crowned 
with  noble  and  generous  results.  How  great  have  been 
the  cares  and  anxieties  during  those  twenty  years, 
few,  if  any,  can  realize.  How  large  and  generous  his 
benefactions  equally  bestowed  upon  the  university  and 
its  friends,  few  will  ever  know.  How  beautifully  he 
has  created  for  us  friends  by  his  social  and  personal 
character;  how  great  has  been  his  influence  in  our  be- 
half, is  to  become  a  part  of  our  history.  During  these 
twenty  years  the  respect  and  affection  of  all  con- 
nected with  the  university  towards  him  has  grown  and 
strengthened.  The  purity  of  his  character,  the  blame- 
lessness  of  his  life,  his  noble  ambition,  his  generous 
and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  cause  of  education, 
his  wisdom  and  kindness  of  heart,  have  made  his  name 
and  person  very  near  and  dear  to  all  of  his  associates." 
In  accepting  his  resignation  the  board  expressed  the 


188      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

hope  that  after  a  period  of  needed  change  and  rest  Mr. 
Wliite  might  renew  his  relations  to  the  university  in  a 
more  congenial  and  less  exacting  position,  and  give  it 
the  prestige  of  his  high  character  and  attainments. 
They  therefore  requested  that  he  would  accept  the 
nomination  to  act  as  honorary  president  of  the  uni- 
versity, and 

''  Resolved,  That  the  legislature  be  requested  to 
amend  the  charter  so  as  to  make  the  first  president  of 
the  university  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for 
life." 

The  position  of  honorary  president  he  declined  in  a 
letter  from  Paris  dated  December  22,  1885.  While 
recognizing  the  confidence  and  kindness  shown  to  him 
by  the  trustees  in  unanimously  offering  to  him  the 
honorary  presidency  of  the  university,  he  stated  that 
he  felt  obliged  to  decline  this  especial  honor  on  various 
grounds,  ''  the  most  important  being  the  considera- 
tion that  there  should  not  seem  to  be  any  division  in 
the  executive  responsibility."  After  expressing  his 
grateful  appreciation  of  the  proffer  of  the  board  to 
secure  legislation  making  him  a  trustee  for  life,  he 
declined  this  honor  from  a  dislike  to  special  legisla- 
tion of  the  sort  required,  and  distrust  regarding  the 
precedent  which  would  be  established,  and  requested 
that  the  resolution  be  allowed  to  rest  simply  as  a  most 
striking  expression  of  confidence.  The  faculty  of  the 
university  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  same  day  expressed 
its  sorrow  at  the  severing  of  the  relation  which  had 
lasted  since  the  earliest  existence  of  the  university,  and 
formed  an  essential  part  in  the  official  life  of  every  one 
of  its  members,  and  which  on  his  side  had  been  sus- 
tained with  great  wisdom  and  great  labor,  with  inex- 
haustible enthusiasm,  with  constant  self-sacrifice,  and 
with  increasing  anxiety  for  the  sound  growth  and  wel- 
fare of  the  university.    It  also  expressed  its  sense  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      189 

the  generous  attitude  which  he  had  maintained  to- 
ward the  faculty  in  all  matters  of  administration,  and 
of  the  strong  and  inspiring  influence  which  he  had  ex- 
erted upon  the  body  of  undergraduates  and  upon  the 
alumni,  and  the  hope  that  he  would  continue  a  member 
of  the  teaching  body  of  the  university,  giving  to  its  de- 
liberations the  benefit  of  his  ripe  experience  and  to 
future  classes  of  students  the  same  instruction  and 
stimulation  in  historical  work  that  had  been  previously 
enjoyed.  The  alumni  also  passed  resolutions  of  ap- 
preciation and  regret. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    PRESIDENT    ADAMS 

UPON  the  resignation  of  President  White, 
there  was  earnest  consideration  both  on  the 
part  of  the  faculty  and  of  the  alumni,  re- 
specting the  choice  of  his  successor.  The 
alunmi  in  New  York  presented  the  name  of  an  eminent 
president  of  one  of  the  greatest  schools  of  technology 
in  America ;  others  earnestly  advocated  the  election  of 
a  president  of  a  great  western  university,  a  man  of 
wide  experience  as  a  teacher  and  educator,  and  in  dip- 
lomatic life.  The  choice  of  the  retiring  president  was 
his  former  pupil,  Mr.  Charles  Kendall  Adams,  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  his  successor  in  the  depart- 
ment of  history  in  that  institution.  Professor  Adams 
had  delivered  several  courses  of  lectures  upon  history 
here  during  the  absence  of  President  White,  and  was, 
therefore,  well  known  to  the  local  Board  of  Trustees. 
His  experience  as  an  educator  and  influential  guide 
upon  educational  questions  in  the  university  with 
which  he  was  connected,  a  soundness  and  calmness  of 
judgment  upon  educational  questions,  commended  him 
to  those  who  were  familiar  with  his  life. 

Professor  Adams  was  born  in  Derby,  Vt.,  in  1835. 
He  graduated  at  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1861, 
and  was,  for  a  time,  assistant  professor  of  Latin  in 
that  university.  He  was  elected  assistant  professor 
of  history  in  1863,  and  professor  in  1865.  Professor 
Adams  was  a  scholar  of  great  industry,  careful  and 
systematic  in  his  work;  without  imagination,  he  mas- 
tered by  assiduous  study  the  authorities  in  his  de- 

190 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      191 

partment,  and  presented  clearly  the  results  of  histori- 
cal investigation.  A  teacher,  orderly  in  his  methods, 
he  had  instituted  a  department  of  recognized  merit, 
and  of  valuable  work.  A  certain  sobriety  of  judgment 
won  respect  and  confidence.  In  an  elaborate  discus- 
sion of  the  qualities  required  in  his  successor,  ex- 
President  White  expressed  his  views  to  the  trustees 
with  great  energy  and  positiveness.  In  accordance 
therewith,  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  held  on 
July  13,  Dr.  Charles  Kendall  Adams  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  university,  and  was  formally  inaugurated 
on  the  19th  of  November,  1885. 

President  Adams  brought  to  the  university  an  ex- 
perience of  great  value  as  an  educator.  He  had  been  an 
attentive  student  of  the  various  questions  discussed  in 
connection  with  higher  learning,  to  the  solution  of 
which  he  had  himself  contributed.  A  man  of  great 
industry  and  method  in  his  work,  he  brought  to  the 
duties  of  his  position  certain  qualities  that  were 
greatly  needed,  and  of  high  value. 

The  university  had  at  this  time  passed  through  a 
period  of  great  depression,  and  stood  upon  the  thresh- 
old of  a  larger  future.  Opportunities  were  thus  pre- 
sented to  President  Adams,  which  had  not  been  en- 
joyed by  his  predecessor.  Dr.  White  had  a  vision  of 
the  promised  future,  but  it  was  reserved  for  his  suc- 
cessor to  enter  the  promised  land. 

President  Adams 's  immediate  interest  was  felt  in  his 
personal  devotion  to  the  work  of  his  position.  A  pres- 
ident's oflQce  was  established  in  one  of  the  university 
buildings  where  the  president  was  accessible  both  by 
faculty  and  students  at  certain  definite  times,  a  feature 
of  administration  adding  greatly  to  the  efficiency  of 
the  office.  ■  / ■'■^''i 

Under  President  Adams's  wise  direction  the  whole 
arrangement   of   the   bureau   of   administration   con- 


192      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

nected  with  the  executive  office  was  remodeled  and 
improved.  President  Adams  was  a  most  laborious  and 
conscientious  executive  officer,  giving  attention  to 
every  interest  which  affected  the  university,  of  prac- 
tical and  experienced  judgment ;  and  it  was  at  once  felt 
that  every  detail  of  business  received  at  once  immedi- 
ate and  adequate  attention.  Several  extremely  favor- 
able features  were  introduced  soon  after  his  accession 
in  university  administration,  which  made  the  faculty 
feel  that  there  was  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  in- 
terest on  the  part  of  the  presiding  officer,  not  only 
with  all  questions  of  higher  learning,  but  also  with  the 
individual  interest  of  every  professor.  The  system 
of  granting  a  leave  of  absence  to  members  of  the 
faculty  after  six  years  of  service  for  purposes  of  travel 
and  investigation  was  a  valuable  feature  of  the  new  ad- 
ministration. The  salaries  of  professors  were  raised, 
so  that  they  were  more  worthy  of  a  university  of  high 
standing  and  influence.  All  these  measures  com- 
mended themselves  to  the  faculty  and  contributed  to 
give  confidence  in  the  new  administration.  The  period 
which  followed  since  1885  was  one  of  uniform  pros- 
perity and  growth.  The  presence  at  all  times  of  a 
responsible  presiding  officer,  and  confidence  in  a  uni- 
form and  judicious  administration  of  affairs,  contrib- 
uted to  give  stability  and  unity  to  the  progress  of  the 
university.  Among  the  important  events  connected 
with  President  Adams's  administration  from  1885  to 
1892,  may  be  mentioned  the  establishment  of  the  law 
school,  the  erection  of  the  chemical  laboratory  and 
of  the  Sage  Library,  of  Lincoln  Hall  for  the  depart- 
ments of  architecture  and  civil  engineering,  of  Barnes 
Hall,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  Armory,  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  new  President  White  School  of  History 
and  Political  Science,  of  the  State  Meteorological  Sta- 
tion, and  the  department  of  archaeology  and  the  clas- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      193 

sical  museum,  the  gift  of  the  White  Library,  and  the 
institution  of  the  University  Senate. 

THE    UNIVERSITY    SENATE 

At  a  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  held  Oc- 
tober 30,  1889,  it  was  provided  that  in  the  case  of  the 
appointment  of  a  full  professor  of  the  university,  no 
election  shall  be  made  except  upon  the  nomination  of 
the  candidate  by  a  committee  composed  of  the  presi- 
dent and  all  the  full  professors  of  the  university.  On 
November  4,  1889,  it  was  provided  that  the  professors 
thus  organized  should  constitute  a  body  to  be  known  as 
the  Academic  Senate.  On  November  12,  the  name 
Academic  Senate  was  changed  to  University  Senate. 
On  December  2,  a  formal  statute  was  enacted,  as 
follows : 

"  1.  The  University  Senate  shall  consist  of  the 
president  of  the  university  and  all  the  full  professors. 

"2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  senate  to  counsel  and 
advise  in  regard  to  all  nominations  for  professorships ; 
to  consider  and  make  recommendations  in  regard  to 
such  courses  of  study  as  may  pertain  to  more  than  one 
faculty  of  the  university;  and,  in  general,  to  consider 
and  make  recommendations  upon  any  question  of  uni- 
versity policy  that  may  be  submitted  to  this  body  by 
the  trustees,  or  the  president,  or  either  of  the  faculties. 

' '  3.  The  meetings  of  the  senate  may  be  called  by  the 
president,  or  by  the  secretary  upon  the  written  appli- 
cation of  any  five  members ;  and  at  such  meetings  the 
president,  or  in  his  absence  the  dean  of  the  general 
faculty,  shall  preside.  The  senate  shall  have  a  sec- 
retary whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  keep  a  record  of  pro- 
ceedings, and  call  all  meetings  under  the  direction  of 
the  proper  authority." 

It  was  also  ordered  that  on  the  reception  from  the 


194      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

president  of  any  nomination  for  a  full  professorship, 
"  the  senate,  after  i^roper  deliberation,  shall  vote  by 
ballot  yea  or  nay  upon  the  recommendation ;  and  their 
action,  with  any  reasons  for  it  which  the  senate  may 
see  fit  to  submit,  shall  be  certified  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees." 

On  June  IS,  1890,  the  statute  regarding  the  senate 
was  further  modified  by  making  it  the  duty  of  the 
president  whenever  a  full  professorship  was  to  be  filled 
to  nominate  to  the  senate  the  person  whom  he  shall 
consider  most  worthy  to  occupy  the  vacancy.  The 
change  thus  made  provided  simply  that  the  president 
should  take  the  initiative  in  all  nominations,  such  ac- 
tion in  the  original  form  of  the  statute  having  been 
overlooked. 

On  October  22,  1890,  the  constitution  of  the  senate 
was  changed  by  the  following  statute  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees : 

''  Resolved,  That  whenever  any  full  professorship  is 
to  be  filled,  the  president  of  the  university  shall,  upon 
request  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  or  of  the  executive 
committee,  seek  diligently  and  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
bearing  in  mind  the  provision  of  the  fundamental 
charter  of  this  university,  which  forbids  him  to  take 
cognizance  of  any  political  or  religious  views  which 
any  candidate  may  or  may  not  hold,  nominate  to  the 
senate  the  person  whom  he  shall  consider  most  worthy 
to  occupy  the  vacancy  to  be  filled;  thereupon  the  sen- 
ate, after  proper  deliberation,  shall  vote  by  ballot  yea 
or  nay  upon  the  recommendation ;  and  their  action  with 
any  reasons  for  it  which  the  senate  may  see  fit  to  sub- 
mit, shall  be  certified  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  who 
shall  then  confirm  or  reject  such  nomination.  Said 
confirmation  or  rejection  shall  be  by  ballot,  said  ballot 
to  be  not  by  a  single  open  vote  cast  by  any  one  person, 
but  by  the  ballots  of  all  present  and  voting." 


COENELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTOEY      195 

The  reasons  wliich  determined  this  action  are  ob- 
vious. It  was  felt  that  in  these  important  questions 
there  should  exist  a  responsible  advisory  body,  which 
should  take  cognizance  of  the  needs  of  the  university 
as  a  whole  and  preserve  a  certain  sjnnmetry  in  its  de- 
velopment. The  pressure  of  individual  departments 
for  recognition  and  enlargement  was  a  constant  factor 
tending  often  to  an  undue  expansion  of  any  single  field 
of  instruction,  at  the  expense  of  more  important  de- 
partments which  demanded  recognition.  In  the  in- 
creasing field  of  the  world's  knowledge,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  take  cognizance  of  new  subjects,  and  a  careful 
and  deliberate  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  senior  pro- 
fessors was  deemed  of  highest  value  as  sin  aid  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  trustees.  Action,  in  itself  ad- 
mirable, might  otherwise  be  taken  without  full  con- 
sideration of  all  the  interests  involved. 

The  question  which  naturally  arose  was,  how  shall 
the  university  policy  be  directed  to  secure  that  in- 
telligent and  uniform  administration  which  shall  en- 
able it  to  develop  in  accordance  with  the  advance  of 
science  ?  There  could  be  but  one  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion, and  that  was  that  all  questions  relating  to  courses 
of  study,  to  the  bestowal  of  degrees  as  well  as  the  nomi- 
nation of  professors,  should  be  entrusted  to  the  appro- 
priate faculty  for  decision.  To  entrust  the  decision  of 
important  legal  questions  to  a  body  of  artists,  would  be 
as  unwarranted  as  to  confer  the  control  of  questions  of 
art  upon  a  corresponding  body  of  lawyers.  Education  is 
a  science,  and  has  a  history  coincident  with  the  growth 
of  knowledge,  and  the  development  of  the  human  mind. 
It  is,  therefore,  in  itself  a  historical  question  as  well  as 
one  of  philosophy.  The  history  of  every  particular 
science  must  be  investigated  in  order  to  choose  wisely 
the  methods  of  study  in  that  science. 

There  was  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  a  profound  con- 


196      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

viction  that  the  faculty  of  the  university  should  be  the 
active  and  responsible  governing  body,  and  that  it 
should  determine  the  character  of  the  instruction,  and 
advise  in  the  appointment  of  all  instructors  and  pro- 
fessors. The  trustees  should  form  the  permanent  cor- 
poration, holding  in  trust  the  property,  and  confirm  or 
reject  all  nominations,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the 
faculty,  make  all  regular  appropriations.  It  was  felt 
that  the  faculty  was  alone  competent  to  estimate  the 
amount  and  variety  of  instruction  required  preliminary 
to  a  degree,  the  number  of  departments  and  instructors, 
and  the  needs  of  the  library,  museums,  and  laboratories. 
It  might  properly  express  an  opinion  of  the  expediency 
and  character  of  all  buildings  which  were  to  be  erected. 
As  regards  the  establishment  or  enlargement  of  de- 
partments, the  resident  instructors  who  devote  all 
their  attention  to  an  institution  of  learning  are  best 
fitted  to  judge  of  the  wisdom  of  any  change.  A  multi- 
plication of  departments  may  cause  the  regular  and 
most  essential  courses  of  instruction  to  be  neglected  or 
deprived  of  the  means  of  enlargement.  The  institu- 
tion of  a  senate  such  as  was  contemplated  exists  in 
some  of  the  most  progressive  institutions  of  our  coun- 
try, and  is  the  established  and  historic  mode  of  admin- 
istration in  Germany  and  in  most  other  countries  of 
Europe.  In  ignoring  a  system  approved  by  the  results 
of  a  thousand  years,  American  colleges  have  made  an 
experiment  fraught  with  immeasurable  loss  to  the  effi- 
ciency of  their  development  and  to  the  progress  of  edu- 
cation. 

Two  methods  have  been  proposed  for  accomplish- 
ing this  purpose:  1st,  by  authorizing  the  faculty 
to  elect  annually  two  or  more  delegates  to  sit  with  the 
corporation,  participating  freely  in  its  deliberations 
and  expressing  their  views  on  all  questions,  becoming 
thus  the  medium  of  communication  between  the  faculty 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      197 

and  the  trustees ;  2d,  by  establishing  a  university  senate 
which  may  represent  the  authoritative  voice  of  the 
faculty  to  the  trustees  upon  such  educational  ques- 
tions. The  provision  in  the  statutes  of  several  states, 
which  forbids  professors  in  a  college  from  becoming 
members  of  the  corporation,  is  so  framed  as  to  ex- 
clude those  who  have  devoted  a  lifetime  to  the  study 
of  educational  questions  from  having  any  voice  in  set- 
tling the  most  important  interests  connected  with  aca- 
demic culture.  It  is  too  often  the  case  that  the  voice 
of  the  faculty  is  not  heard  in  all  questions  affecting  the 
welfare  of  the  university,  so  that  while  sitting  appar- 
ently in  the  place  of  authority,  they  are  powerless  to 
correct  abuses  and  carry  out  important  reforms.  The 
law  of  this  state,  which  formerly  forbade  professors 
in  colleges  from  being  members  of  the  corporation, 
was  repealed  when  the  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Tilden  was 
governor;  representatives  of  some  one  of  the  faculty 
of  Harvard  have  served  in  the  corporation  and  in  the 
Board  of  Overseers  repeatedly  during  the  present  cen- 
tury. The  second  method  of  attaining  the  end  desired, 
by  the  establishment  of  the  university  senate,  was  that 
which  was  adopted  by  the  trustees  of  this  university. 
A  profound  and  far-reaching  wisdom  was  manifest  in 
this  action.  It  added  dignity  at  once  to  the  position 
of  a  professor  and  created  an  esprit  du  corps  and  sense 
of  responsibility  which  were  in  the  highest  degree  a 
contribution  to  the  advancement  of  the  educational  in- 
terests of  the  university.  A  system  so  valuable  in  its 
results,  winning  at  once  the  co-operation  and  enthusi- 
astic participation  of  the  faculty  in  supporting  the 
executive  of  the  university,  and  in  promoting  all  in- 
terests which  advance  its  welfare,  could  not  have  been 
otherwise  obtained. 

The  expediency  of  the  establishment  of  a  senate  was 
abundantly  verified  in  practice.    Previously,  there  had 


198      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

been  no  common  organization  by  which  the  members  of 
both  faculties,  viz.,  the  Academic  and  that  of  the  Law 
School,  could  meet  together  for  mutual  counsel  or  au- 
thoritative action.  Many  questions  affecting  the  inter- 
relation of  the  Law  School  and  other  departments  of 
the  university  demanded  such  consideration  in  common. 
The  provision  establishing  the  Law  School,  which  per- 
mitted students  in  the  academic  department  to  elect 
work  in  the  Law  School  to  a  limited  extent  during  the 
last  two  years  of  their  course,  as  well  as  the  qualifica- 
tions and  terms  upon  which  such  liberty  shall  be  al- 
lowed, as  well  as  the  question  of  a  common  calendar 
for  the  two  faculties,  demanded  an  organization  such  as 
the  senate.  In  practical  operation,  it  abundantly  vin- 
dicated its  establishment.  A  conscientious  etfort  on 
the  part  of  professors  constituting  any  group  within 
the  senate  to  secure  candidates  of  the  highest  reputa- 
tion and  personal  standing  for  the  chairs  which  were 
to  be  filled,  was  manifested.  All  appointments  during 
the  period  of  the  existence  of  the  senate  were  made 
after  a  careful  deliberation  and  comparison  of  the 
qualifications  of  all  candidates  named,  and  all  appoint- 
ments received  the  cordial  support  and  endorsement 
of  the  faculty.  Professors  so  elected  came  to  the  uni- 
versity with  the  consciousness  of  the  approval  of  their 
appointment  and  a  welcome  to  their  new  field  of  labor. 
The  senate  ceased  to  exist  by  action  of  the  trustees, 
October  6,  1893.  President  Adams  resigned  in  May, 
1892,  and  was  elected  soon  after  president  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin. 

President  Adams  in  his  resignation  stated  that  the 
cause  was  due  to  the  grave  and  seemingly  unreconcil- 
able  differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to  matters  of  ad- 
ministrative importance.  The  exact  cause  and  nature 
of  the  difficulty  to  which  reference  is  here  made,  if  such 
a  difference  really  existed,  was  unknown  to  the  faculty. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      199 


In  the  earlier  years  of  President  Adams 's  administra- 
tion, differences  of  views  between  him  and  the  local 
board,  and  even  differences  of  views  in  the  faculty,  had 
been  felt.  It  is  certain  that  these  latter  differences 
had  passed  away  long  before  his  resignation.  An  ad- 
verse view  of  his  administration  has  been  expressed  at 
times  among  the  alumni,  much  of  which  was  a  sur- 
vival of  the  original  opposition  to  his  election.  Voices 
of  this  kind  had,  however,  largely  become  silent.  A 
sincere  affection  for  the  university,  and  a  desire  to 
serve  it  successfully,  were  manifest  upon  his  part.  His 
resignation  therefore  came  as  a  surprise.  Had  it  oc- 
curred earlier  in  the  history  of  his  administration,  it 
would  have  seemed  natural,  but  not  at  the  time  it  was 
tendered.  President  Adams  had  a  high  ideal  of  the 
qualities  necessary  in  professors,  both  as  teachers  and 
investigators,  which  were  demanded  by  modern  learn- 
ing. His  nominations,  though  possibly  at  times  per- 
sonal, were  with  few  exceptions  of  high  merit.  Even 
though  the  approval  of  the  senate  did  not  always  fol- 
low his  nomination,  it  is  true  that  the  names  presented 
were  usually  those  of  men  of  high  reputation,  who  have 
since  won  success  in  the  world  of  scholarship  elsewhere. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  choice  of  the  trustees  for  a  successor  to 
President  Adams  devolved  upon  Dr.  J.  G. 
Schurman,  professor  of  philosophy  in  the 
university,  and  dean  of  the  Sage  School  of 
Philosophy.  He  was  chosen  at  a  special  meeting  of 
the  Board  on  the  18th  of  May,  1892.  A  native  of 
Prince  Edward  Island,  a  subject  of  the  Queen,  he 
became  an  American  citizen  a  few  months  after  his 
inauguration.  During  the  period  of  his  connection 
with  the  university,  he  had  established  a  reputation  as 
a  brilliant  lecturer  upon  philosophical  subjects,  and 
his  private  lectures  as  well  as  his  public  and  more 
popular  lectures  had  been  largely  attended.  He  pos- 
sesses in  a  remarkable  degree  the  gift  of  lucid  exposi- 
tion and  analysis  of  philosophical  systems.  A  series 
of  lectures  upon  theism.  Belief  in  God  (1890),  which 
he  had  delivered  before  the  students  of  the  university, 
and  later  before  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  and 
had  published  in  a  volume,  exhibit  great  acuteness  in 
stating  and  criticising,  from  a  scientific  and  philo- 
sophical standpoint,  the  current  arguments  by  which 
this  doctrine  is  defended.  He  had  also  published  a 
volume  entitled  The  Ethical  Import  of  Darwinism 
(1888). 

Naturally  an  advocate,  a  mind  assuming  instinctively 
and  unconsciously  a  dialectic  attitude,  relying  con- 
fidently upon  the  soundness  of  any  position  capable  of 
logical  defense,  he  entered  upon  his  duties  with  great 
energy,  and  with  a  desire  to  carry  forward  the  work 

200 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      201 

which  had  already  been  begun.  His  inauguration  took 
place  on  November  11,  in  the  Armory.  In  a  series 
of  addresses  in  response  to  a  welcome  on  behalf  of  the 
students,  the  faculty,  alumni,  and  trustees,  as  well  as 
in  his  formal  inaugural  address,  the  modest  bearing  of 
the  young  scholar  and  his  evident  sense  of  responsi- 
bility impressed  all  in  his  favor,  even  those  to  whom 
his  election  had  come  as  a  surprise.  To  the  students 
he  said :  '  *  It  is  you  who  constitute  the  University ;  in 
its  essence  you  are  the  University.  The  students  are 
the  final  cause  of  its  existence.  My  young  fellow- 
workers,  we  are  all  here  for  your  sakes.  And  all  we 
have  and  are  is  yours.  Take  hold  then  with  all  your 
organs  on  the  life  that  environs  you ;  and  let  the  thews 
of  your  minds  be  nourished  and  strengthened  by  the 
truth  on  which  spirit  feeds.  The  variety  of  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  Cornell  University  is  itself  a  liberal 
education  to  those  who  know  how  to  use  it.  Here, 
while  learning  everything  of  something,  you  may  also 
learn  something  of  everything.  And  with  all  your 
getting,  get  wisdom.  Conduct  is  not  merely  three- 
fourths  of  life,  as  Matthew  Arnold  said:  it  is  the 
whole  of  life.  And  it  is  my  earnest  desire  and  prayer 
that  Cornell  University  may  go  on  to  evolve  a  more 
perfect  type  of  manhood, — a  manhood  which,  shuffling 
off  the  animal  coil  and  fulfilling  the  divine  idea  of  man, 
shall  attain  to  a  sense  of  honor  that  feels  a  stain  like 
a  wound,  to  an  integrity  that  will  not  palter  with  the 
truth,  to  a  justice  and  kindliness  which,  in  their  min- 
istrations, go  out  to  meet  the  claims  and  needs  of 
others,  to  a  gentleness  which  is  harsh  with  nothing  but 
meanness  and  a  tolerance  that  forgives  everything  ex- 
cept hypocrisy,  and  to  a  reverence  and  piety  which, 
transcending  all  the  sublimities  of  Time,  go  on  to  com- 
mune with  the  Spirit  of  Life  and  Truth  and  Love 
Eternal.    Students  of  Cornell  University !  this  is  your 


202      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

moral  vocation.    To  keep  it  constantly  before  you  is 
the  highest  duty  of  your  President." 

To  the  alumni  he  said:  "  And  you,  older  sons  and 
daughters  of  Alma  Mater,  I  have  heard  your  words 
with  joy  as  I  shall  obey  your  summons  with  alacrity. 
The  spirit  of  Cornell  University  is  mine  as  fully  as  it 
is  yours.  And  it  bids  us  all  work  together  for  the 
liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  youth  of  all 
classes  and  professions  of  our  people.  It  is  for  you  to 
consider  how  you  can  most  elfectually  maintain  the 
University  which  from  this  time  on  must  be  so  largely 
entrusted  to  j^our  keeping.  Without  you  we  can  do 
nothing;  with  your  aid  all  things  are  possible.  Alumni, 
I  appeal  to  you  because  you  are  strong.  Alumnae,  I 
api)eal  to  you  because  you  are  quick-witted.  We  need 
the  help  of  both.  A  giant's  work  is  before  us.  But 
through  your  heroism  we  shall  triumph."  To  the 
faculty:  "  Fellow-teachers,  I  desire  to  magnify  our 
office.  We  are  training  minds.  And,  as  Emerson  most 
truly  said, '  the  main  enterprise  of  the  world  for  splen- 
dor, for  extent,  is  the  upbuilding  of  a  man.'  Methods 
of  education,  like  metaphysics,  must  be  reconsidered 
by  every  generation.  Therefore,  besides  teaching  and 
investigating,  you  must  shape  our  educational  politics. 
And  grave  educational  issues  are  now  before  you. 
Within  the  very  general  limits  prescribed  by  the  char- 
ter, you  must  determine  the  constituents  of  a  liberal 
culture,  and  of  a  professional  training,  and  fix  their 
proper  relation  to  each  other.  All  culture  should  be 
humanistic  and  naturalistic  at  the  same  time;  but  it 
is  no  easy  matter  to  adjust  the  claims  of  each.  The 
humanities  are  indispensable ;  but  the  end  is  humanity : 
and  it  is  at  least  an  open  question  whether  the  English 
language  and  literature  are  not  the  most  effective  of 
all  liberalizing  disciplines.  Cornell  University  must 
settle   all   such  questions   on   their   own  merits.    As 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      203 

Goldwin  Smith  said  at  the  foundation  of  the  institu- 
tion, it  is  for  Cornell  '  to  remain  uninfluenced,  either 
in  the  way  of  imitation  or  of  antagonism,  by  other 
educational  institutions  or  ideas.'  Gentlemen  of  the 
Faculty,  it  is  your  privilege  as  it  is  your  duty,  to  settle 
our  educational  problems  in  the  way  you  think  best. 
The  President  is  your  chairman;  he  is  the  exponent  of 
your  ideas  and  the  executor  of  your  resolutions.  But 
yours  is  the  responsibility  of  framing  the  legislation 
he  administers." 

In  his  inaugural  address  he  reviewed  rapidly  and 
eloquently  the  history  of  the  university,  emphasizing 
the  needs  of  special  departments,  but  la>dng  especial 
stress  upon  the  relation  of  the  university  to  the  state 
of  New  York,  and  presenting  the  claims  of  the  uni- 
versity upon  the  state  in  return  for  the  free  educa- 
tion which  the  university  offers  to  more  than  five 
hundred  state  students,  in  addition  to  students  in  the 
department  of  agriculture.  President  Schurman  ad- 
vocated for  the  first  time  the  erection  of  halls  of  resi- 
dence for  the  students.  He  closed  with  this  statement 
of  the  province  of  the  university :  "Its  ends  are  the 
ends  of  the  state.  It  is  dedicated  to  truth,  and  to 
utility ;  and  between  these  there  is  no  incompatibility ; 
for,  as  Plato  has  well  said,  the  divinest  things  are  the 
most  serviceable.  We  are  at  once  realistic  and  ideal- 
istic. And  while  we  cherish  the  old  we  are  always  in 
quest  of  something  better.  The  genius  of  Cornell  Uni- 
versity stands  on  the  solid  earth;  and  while  his  eyes 
front  the  dawn,  the  ancient  heavens  are  about  him,  and 
through  all  its  resounding  spaces  he  hears  the  noble 
mother  call,  Excelsior !  So  may  it  be !  So  shall  it  be ; 
for  the  people  of  New  York  will  not  suffer  either  pri- 
vate gifts  or  public  grants  to  fail  us." 

During  the  first  year,  an  independent  Summer 
School  was  established  under  the  voluntary  direction 


204     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  instruction  of  certain  professors.  The  attendance 
was  not  large,  but  85  were  in  attendance,  who  were 
either  teachers  or  advanced  students,  while  about  thirty 
were  undergraduates,  or  students  preparing  for  the 
university.  In  the  following  year,  the  attendance  rose 
to  142.  A  striking  feature  of  the  initial  instruction 
was  the  large  number  of  college  graduates  who  were 
in  attendance,  numbering  167  in  the  second  year  of  the 
school.  The  Law  School  also  held  a  private  summer 
session,  in  which  37  students  were  enrolled,  of  whom 
14  were  college  graduates. 

The  year  was  noticeable  for  the  active  interest  in 
the  university  manifested  by  the  state  executive.  Gov- 
ernor Flower.  He  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  education  of  state  students  costs  the  university 
$60,000  a  year,  while  the  university  received,  under 
the  terms  of  the  Federal  Land  Grant,  but  $18,000.  He 
showed  how  the  state  of  Ohio  appropriated  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  towards  its  Land  Grant 
college,  while  the  state  of  California  had  appropriated 
more  than  two  million  dollars  for  the  buildings  and 
equipment  of  its  own  college.  If  the  expense  of  edu- 
cating each  student  annually  was  $330,  the  entire  cost 
of  the  financial  benefaction  which  Cornell  University 
bestows  upon  the  state  of  New  York  was,  at  that  time, 
$160,138,  with  an  attendance  of  1531  students. 

The  appropriation  by  the  legislature  in  that  year  of 
$50,000  in  aid  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  was  granted 
specifically  for  a  building  for  dairy  husbandry  (1893). 

At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  June  15,  1892,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  arrange  for  the  appro- 
priate observance  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of 
the  organization  of  Cornell  University.  It  was  de- 
cided to  arrange  for  the  celebration  of  the  opening  of 
the  university  on  October  6,  7,  and  8,  1893.  Such  an 
occasion  afforded  an  opportunity  to  review  the  his- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      205 

tory,  and  to  estimate  the  influence  of  the  university  as 
an  educational  force  in  the  nation,  in  the  twenty-five 
years  of  its  existence,  and  for  a  reunion  of  former  stu- 
dents and  friends,  who  were  present  in  large  numbers. 
The  exercises  began  on  Friday  evening,  October  the 
sixth,  with  a  reception  in  the  University  Library,  at 
which  delegates  from  other  universities  and  invited 
guests  were  present. 

Among  the  attractions  of  the  library  many  recent 
additions  were  exhibited,  including  the  Zarncke  Li- 
brary, previously  one  of  the  finest  collections  for  the 
study  of  German  literature  and  philology  among  the 
private  libraries  of  Germany,  which  had  been  recently 
presented  to  the  university  by  Mr.  William  H.  Sage; 
a  rare  Dante  collection  from  Professor  Willard  Fiske ; 
several  richly  illustrated  volumes  upon  events  in  Rus- 
sian history,  from  the  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White,  min- 
ister to  Russia;  two  portraits  by  the  artist,  Mr.  J. 
Colin  Forbes,  one  of  the  Hon.  Ezra  Cornell,  painted  in 
accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  legislature  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  for  the  State  Library  in  Al- 
bany, and  a  replica  of  a  foot-length  portrait  of  Mr. 
Gladstone,  painted  for  the  Liberal  Club  in  London. 

The  literary  exercises  in  connection  with  this  event 
were  held  on  Saturday,  October  7,  in  the  lecture  room 
of  the  library.  The  oration  upon  this  occasion  was 
delivered  by  the  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  The 
address  which  the  eloquent  orator  delivered  upon  this 
occasion  was  perhaps  one  of  the  most  notable  of  his 
life;  it  glowed  with  the  emotion  which  such  an  aca- 
demic occasion  suggests,  and  with  the  spirit  of  a  ^ 
scholar  who  is  permeated  with  the  thought  of  the  glory 
of  the  history  of  universities  in  the  past,  and  of  their 
place  in  the  world's  progress,  and  who,  at  the  same 
time,  is  full  of  memories  of  academic  life  which  are  at 
once  tender  and  ennobling.    The  occasion,  aside  from 


206      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

politics  and  the  fever  of  political  life,  was  worthy  of  a 
celebration  commemorating  a  university  which  has 
been  representative  in  the  history  of  the  new  learning. 
At  the  same  time  it  was  a  glorious  prophecy  of  the  fu- 
ture, and  of  the  influence  which  the  university  should 
exert  in  the  coming  educational  life  of  the  nation.  Sel- 
dom, possibly  never,  has  the  province  of  the  university 
been  portrayed  with  more  eloquence  and  beauty  than 
was  done  by  Mr.  Depew  on  this  occasion.  One  of  the 
noblest  passages  of  the  address  was,  as  was  proper,  a 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  founder,  with  whom  Mr. 
Depew  had  been  personally  associated : 

''  The  life  of  Ezra  Cornell  is  a  lesson  and  an  inspi- 
ration. The  study  of  his  struggles  and  success  is  a 
liberal  education.  Our  meeting  would  lose  much  of  its 
significance  if  it  failed  to  enforce  the  lesson  of  the 
career,  and  commemorate  the  character,  of  the  founder. 
Sixty-five  years  ago  young  Cornell,  who  had  just  at- 
tained his  majority  and  started  out  to  seek  his  fortune, 
after  a  walk  of  forty  miles  rested  upon  one  of  the  hills 
overlooking  this  beautiful  lake.  This  reticent  Quaker 
was  passionately  fond  of  nature,  and  he  was  entranced 
by  the  superb  panorama  spread  out  before  him.  Few 
places  on  earth  possess  so  many  scenic  attractions. 
The  only  view  I  know  which  compares  with  this,  is  the 
view  from  the  Acropolis,  at  Athens,  with  the  plain  in 
front,  the  Pentelic  mountains  behind,  and  the  blue 
^gean  in  the  distance. 

"  The  young  mechanic  had  neither  friends  nor  ac- 
quaintances in  the  village  which  nestled  at  his  feet,  and 
his  worldly  possessions  were  all  in  a  little  bundle  on 
the  end  of  the  stick  which  served  for  staff  and  baggage- 
wagon.  He  had  no  money,  and  only  a  spare  suit  of 
clothes;  but  with  health,  good  habits,  ambition,  in- 
dustry, and  a  perfect  knowledge  of  what  he  intended 
to  do,  and  an  equal  determination  to  do  it,  he  entered 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      207 

Ithaca  a  conqueror.  No  delegation  of  citizens  met  him 
at  the  gates;  no  triumphal  procession  bore  him  in  a 
chariot;  no  arches  spanned  the  streets;  but  the  man 
who  was  to  make  this  then  secluded  hamlet  known 
throughout  the  world  had  done  for  Ithaca  the  greatest 
service  it  could  receive  by  deciding  to  become  its  citi- 
zen. Though  poor,  he  was  far  removed  from  poverty. 
His  situation  illustrates  one  of  the  hopeful  features  of 
American  conditions.  Neither  doubt  nor  despair  was 
in  his  mind.  He  had  found  his  place  and  he  knew  he 
could  improve  it.  He  saw  his  ladder  and  began  to 
climb  it.  It  is  the  genius  of  our  people  to  get  on,  and 
it  is  the  pleasure  of  the  community  to  help  and  ap- 
plaud. Occasional  failures  test  the  metal  of  the  as- 
pirant, and  hard  knocks  develop  grip  or  gelatin. 
There  are,  unhappily,  suffering  and  helplessness  inci- 
dent to  the  practical  workings  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  but  vigor  and  manhood  win  their 
rewards. 

' '  Faith  and  works  were  the  principles  of  Ezra  Cor- 
nell, and  the  carpenter's  bench  a  platform  and  prepara- 
tion for  larger  efforts.  ...  As  a  carpenter  he  im- 
proved the  methods  of  his  village  master;  as  a  me- 
chanic he  devised  machines  which  overcame  unex- 
pected difficulties;  as  an  unprejudiced,  practical  man, 
he  became  familiar  with  the  uses  of  electricity  while 
the  professor  was  still  lecturing  upon  its  dangers. 

"  .  .  .  The  inventor  needed  an  undaunted  and  in- 
domitable man  of  affairs  to  demonstrate  to  capitalists 
its  possibilities,  and  to  the  public  its  beneficence,  and 
he  found  him  in  Ezra  Cornell,  who  saw  its  future,  and 
upon  his  judgment  staked  the  accumulations  of  his  life 
and  the  almost  superhuman  labors  of  a  decade.  He 
owned  electric  shares  of  the  face  value  of  millions 
and  went  hungry  to  bed  because  he  had  not  the  means 
to  pay  for  a  meal,  and  his  family  suffered  because  they 


208      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

could  not  be  trusted  for  a  barrel  of  flour.  But  neither 
want,  nor  debt,  nor  the  sheriff,  could  wrest  from  him 
his  telegraph  stock.  I  know  of  no  more  dramatic  scene 
in  the  lives  of  any  of  our  successful  men  than  the  spec- 
tacle of  this  potential  millionaire  tramping  through  the 
highways  and  byways  of  penury,  suffering,  and  sick- 
ness, upheld  by  his  sublime  faith  in  his  work  and  the 
certainty  of  its  recognition.  Suddenly  the  darkness 
was  dispelled  and  the  day  dawned.  People  woke  up  to 
the  necessity  of  the  telegraph  for  the  government,  and 
for  commerce,  and  Cornell's  faith  had  coined  for  him 
a  fortune. 

"  .  .  .  A  most  noble  and  brilliant  representative  of 
this  class  was  the  founder  of  this  university.  Pros- 
perity made  him  neither  an  idler  nor  a  voluptuary.  It 
added  fresh  vigor  to  his  work,  enlarged  his  vision,  and 
broadened  his  sympathies.  No  mawkish  sentimen- 
tality nor  theatrical  surprises  were  in  his  character. 
He  determined  to  devote  a  portion  of  his  fortune  to 
the  welfare  of  his  countrymen  and  countrywomen,  and 
decided  that  the  best  way  was  to  give  them  the  educa- 
tion and  training  with  which  to  help  themselves.  He 
had  the  self-made  man's  belief  that  a  successful 
career  is  possible  to  every  one  who  tries,  but  he  knew 
from  sore  experience  how  difficult  is  progress  for  the 
poorly  equipped  in  the  sharp  competition  of  life.  He 
did  not  give  up  money-making.  On  the  contrary,  the 
more  beneficent  the  purpose  to  which  he  found  it  could 
be  applied,  the  harder  he  worked  to  gain  more.  His 
was  the  ideal  of  the  divine  injunction  to  be  'diligent 
in  business,  serving  the  Lord.' 

•  •  •  •  • 

**  It  was  my  privilege  as  a  young  man,  and  the 
youngest  member  of  the  legislature,  to  sit  beside  Ezra 
Cornell.  I  learned  to  love  and  revere  him.  In  those 
days,  so  full  of  the  strife  and  passions  of  the  Civil 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      209 


War,  it  was  a  wonder  and  inspiration  to  listen  to  the 
peaceful  plans  of  this  practical  philanthropist  for  the 
benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  The  times  were  big  with 
gigantic  schemes  for  the  acquisition  of  sudden  for- 
tunes, and  his  colleagues  could  not  understand  this 
most  earnest  and  unselfish  worker.  To  most  of  them 
he  was  a  schemer  whose  purposes  they  could  not 
fathom,  and  to  the  rest  of  us  he  seemed  a  dreamer  whose 
visions  would  never  materialize.  These  doubters  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  esteem  it  a  high  privilege  to 
stand  in  this  presence,  and  an  honor  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  contribute  a  chaplet  to  the  wreaths  which 
crown  the  statue  of  Ezra  Cornell." 

Other  addresses  were  delivered  by  the  Hon.  Stewart 
L.  Woodford,  LL.  D.,  who,  as  lieutenant-governor,  had 
responded  on  behalf  of  the  state  at  the  opening  of  the 
university;  by  Chancellor  Upson  of  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New  York;  by  Professor  G.  C.  Caldwell  in 
behalf  of  the  original  faculty ;  and  by  the  Hon.  Joseph 
C.  Hendrix,  member  of  Congress  from  Brooklyn,  one 
of  the  early  students.  An  interesting  feature  of  the 
occasion  was  the  presentation  to  Dr.  Burt  G.  Wilder, 
by  Dr.  Theobald  Smith,  of  a  Festschrift,  a  volume  con- 
taining contributions  in  science  from  his  former  pupils, 
designed  to  express  their  gratitude  for  his  instruction 
and  services  to  the  cause  of  science;  also  of  a  manu- 
script history  of  the  university,  prepared  by  Professor 
Ernest  W^.  Huffcut. 

General  regret  was  felt  that  President  Cleveland, 
who,  as  governor,  and  at  other  times,  had  always  mani- 
fested his  interest  in  the  university,  was  unable  to  be 
present,  owing  to  the  demands  of  important  legislation 
in  Congress. 

At  the  dinner  which  followed  congratulations  were 
received  from  ex-President  White  in  St.  Petersburg, 
to  which  a  grateful  response  was  sent;  from  General 


210     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Meredith  Read  in  Paris,  the  only  survivor  of  the  ten 
trustees  named  in  the  charter  of  the  university ;  and  a 
letter  was  read  from  Professor  Goldwin  Smith  in  To- 
ronto, who  regretted  his  inability  to  be  present. 
Speeches  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  Trustees  by  the 
Hon.  S.  D.  Halliday ;  the  Faculty,  by  Professor  Crane ; 
the  Commonwealth,  by  the  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew ; 
Sister  Institutions  of  the  East,  by  President  Seth  Low 
of  Columbia  College;  the  Earlier  Students,  by  Hon. 
Joseph  C.  Hendrix;  Theosophy  and  Education,  by 
General  A.  C.  Barnes ;  Practical  Education,  by  Andrew 
Carnegie ;  Sister  Institutions  of  the  West,  by  President 
Cyrus  Northrup  of  the  University  of  Minnesota;  The 
University  and  the  Press,  by  St.  Clair  McKelway;  the 
Education  of  Woman,  by  President  James  M.  Taylor  of 
Vassar  College;  the  College  Graduate  and  the  Men  of 
Affairs,  by  Hon.  Oscar  A.  Straus,  late  United  States 
minister  to  Turkey;  the  Later  Alumni,  by  Seward  A. 
Simons,  A.  B.,  79. 

On  Sunday,  the  8th  of  October,  an  impressive  anni- 
versary sermon  was  delivered  in  the  Armory  by  the 
Right  Reverend  William  Croswell  Doane,  D.  D.,  Bishop 
of  Albany  and  vice-chancellor  of  the  University  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  thus  closing  this  academic  festival. 

In  the  following  year,  an  effort  was  made  to  elevate 
and  equalize  the  requirements  for  admission  to  the 
general  courses,  and  to  reorganize  those  courses.  This 
subject  had  received  national  importance  through  a 
report  of  a  committee  upon  education  appointed  by 
the  National  Teachers'  Association.  As  a  result  of 
the  discussion  by  the  faculty,  the  following  changes 
were  made  in  the  requirements  for  admission :  An  ad- 
ditional year  of  French  and  German  was  required. 
For  admission  to  the  course  of  philosophy,  the  candi- 
date was  required  to  pass  in  French,  German,  or 
higher  mathematics.    It  was  provided  in  1896  that  the 


BENEFACTORS 


William  Henry  Sage 
Frederick  William  Giiiteail 


Dean  Sage 

Daniel  B.  Faverweather 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      211 


alternative  in  mathematics  should  be  withdrawn  and 
the  requirements  in  French  and  German  doubled.  In 
order  to  make  the  course  distinctive,  it  was  provided 
that  the  major  part  of  the  elective  work  for  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Arts  and  Doctor  of  Philosophy  should 
be  in  literary,  historical,  philosophical,  or  mathematical 
subjects,  and  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  in 
the  physical  or  the  mathematical  sciences.  The  course 
in  letters  was  abolished.  This  course  had,  for  many 
years,  lacked  the  rigid  requirements  for  admission  of 
some  of  the  other  courses  and  had  become  a  favorite 
course  with  students  whose  attainments  were  not  suf- 
ficiently advanced  or  exact  to  receive  the  other  degrees. 

Governor  Flower  showed  his  sagacious  view  of  the 
industrial  demands  of  the  state  by  recommending  an 
appropriation  for  a  State  Veterinary  College.  He 
showed  that  the  value  of  live  stock  in  the  United  States 
was  two  billion  dollars,  while  that  in  the  state  of  New 
York  alone  amounted  to  two  hundred  million  dollars. 
The  legislature  appropriated  fifty  thousand  dollars  as 
an  initial  gift  for  buildings  for  a  State  Veterinary  Col- 
lege, which  sum  was  increased  in  the  following  year 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  question  of  academic  discipline  has  in  most  col- 
leges been  a  difficult  one;  either  there  has  been  a  lack 
of  oversight  over  the  conduct  of  students,  or  the  super- 
vision has  been  minute  and  irksome  and  assumed  a 
character  of  espionage.  Such  a  system  was  detri- 
mental to  manly  independence  on  the  part  of  stu- 
dents. Personal  dignity  and  responsibility  were  im- 
possible under  the  surveillance  of  tutors  or  proctors. 
In  few  universities  have  students  been  so  uniformly 
treated  as  independent  and  responsible  for  their  ac- 
tions. The  mutual  relations  of  the  students  and  the 
faculty  had  always  been  a  striking  feature  of  the  uni- 
versity.   The  faculty  were  regarded  as  the  friends  of 


212      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  students,  and  in  case  of  any  immature  prank,  or 
breach  of  order,  the  students,  under  the  wise  guidance 
of  the  advice  of  those  in  authority,  had  recognized  their 
error  and  atoned  for  any  mistake.  A  joxmg  student,  ex- 
periencing for  the  first  time  the  full  enjoyment  of  free- 
dom, and  yet  not  entirely  free  from  boyish  excesses,  re- 
marked to  one  of  the  professors,  "  I  do  not  know  why 
it  is  that  whenever  I  do  not  feel  or  do  rightly,  I  always 
come  to  you. ' '  Boyish  frankness  thus  showed  how  far 
sjanpathy  appealed  to  him,  and  was  a  corrective  in  his 
conduct.  While  university  discipline  cannot  be  ig- 
nored or  left  to  itself,  its  operation  should  be  silent, 
and  not  in  an  organized  form  so  as  to  become  a  menace 
and  a  standing  object  of  attack.  In  such  cases,  the 
effects  of  discipline  are  lost,  and  the  spirit  of  antag- 
onism is  created  in  the  student  world.  The  fact  that 
discipline  is  administered  by  students  does  not  relieve 
it  from  this  danger,  but  rather  emphasizes  it.  In  the 
beginning,  discipline  had  been  administered  by  the 
faculty  as  a  whole.  Such  discipline  was  fair  and  indul- 
gent. It  was  not  always  uniform,  but  was  in  the  end 
prevailingly  just.  The  student  world  is  amenable  to 
reason,  and  its  sober  and  just  instincts  may  be  appealed 
to  in  most  cases  as  a  guide  to  conduct.  The  faculty  felt 
the  unpleasantness  of  consuming  a  large  amount  of 
time  in  deliberation  in  single  cases.  It  felt  that  it  as  a 
body  suffered  by  assuming  the  position  of  a  police  offi- 
cer or  a  magistrate.  At  one  time  discipline  was  en- 
trusted to  a  committee  of  five  of  the  faculty,  chosen  by 
that  body.  Some  university  officer  had  always  been 
present  to  guard  the  integrity  of  examinations.  It  was 
felt  that  the  faculty  was  responsible  for  the  record  of 
the  work  of  every  student  as  certified  to  by  his  degree. 
Towards  the  end  of  1902-03,  certain  agitation  against 
proctors  in  examinations  led  to  the  withdrawal  of 
the  same,  in  part,  and  to  a  subscription  by  the  student 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      213 


that  the  examination  paper  submitted  had  been  without 
assistance  and  was  his  own  work.  A  Student  Self- 
Governing  Council  was  established,  consisting  of  four 
seniors,  three  juniors,  two  sophomores,  and  one  fresh- 
man, under  the  chairmanship  of  the  president  of  the 
university.  The  introduction  of  this  system  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have  been  generally  demanded  by  the  stu- 
dents. In  fact,  to  erect  a  permanent  tribunal  where 
none  had  previously  existed,  to  formulate  and  incor- 
porate discipline  visibly,  so  that  it  was  everj^here 
manifest,  where  before  it  had  been  silent,  invisible, 
and  efficient,  was  a  proceeding  which  appealed  only  to 
a  limited  number  of  students.  Still  it  possessed  a 
specious  attraction  and  was  adopted.  The  danger  of 
multiplying  judges,  and  scattering  them  over  the  stu- 
dent community,  is  that  there  are  few  gatherings  of 
students  where  some  judge  is  not  present.  It  has, 
therefore,  an  indirect  tendency  to  poison  social  inter- 
course and  to  make  it  uncertain  whether  the  uncon- 
scious acts  and  conduct  of  students  are  not  under  obser- 
vation by  some  fellow  student.  The  system  existed  for 
several  years,  but  became  soon  the  target  of  the  witti- 
cisms of  the  college  press.  College  politics  injauenced 
the  choice  of  members  of  the  council.  The  position 
of  judge  was  no  longer  a  sinecure,  but  he  became  ex- 
posed to  the  shafts  of  possible  suspicion.  The  unfor- 
tunate condemnation  of  an  innocent  student,  and  the 
publication  of  the  particulars  of  his  offense,  aroused 
a  sense  of  distrust  of  the  decisions  of  the  council.  It, 
however,  continued  its  office  until  the  division  of  the 
university  into  colleges,  when  the  subject  of  discipline 
was  entrusted  to  the  faculty  of  each  college.  Here, 
however,  fresh  difficulties  arose.  Instead  of  having  a 
single  tribunal,  there  were  six  separate  tribunals  not 
uniform  in  the  administration  of  discipline  or  in  the 
penalties  imposed.     The  fact  that  students  were  citi- 


214      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

zens  of  the  university  as  a  whole,  and  often  under  in- 
struction at  the  same  time  in  several  colleges,  made  it 
necessary  to  establish  a  uniform  and  central  committee 
on  Student  Conduct  in  place  of  the  several  jurisdictions 
which  existed  up  to  that  time.  This  system  has  pre- 
vailed up  to  the  present  time.  The  committee  is 
chosen  by  the  faculty,  and  is  presided  over  by  the  dean 
of  the  general  faculty.  Its  work  has  been  uniform  and 
just,  and  no  question  has  arisen  as  to  the  fairness  of 
administration  of  justice. 

The  year  1894-95  was  marked  by  a  radical  change  in 
the  constitution  of  the  university,  namely,  by  an  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  trustees.  The  Board  of  Trus- 
tees had  formerly  consisted  of  seven  ex-officio  trustees, 
one  life  trustee,  and  fifteen  elective  trustees ;  two-thirds 
of  the  latter  being  elected  by  the  board,  and  one-third 
by  the  alumni.  Even  when  the  number  was  of  this 
size,  it  was  larger  than  that  of  similar  boards  in  other 
universities.  That  feature  of  the  charter  which  pro- 
vided for  the  representation  of  certain  state  officials 
in  the  Board  of  Trustees  had  proved  in  effect  of  no  ad- 
vantage. Occasionally,  a  governor  or  state  officer  had 
recognized  the  dignity  of  the  honor  thus  conferred 
upon  him  and  the  opportunity  of  usefulness  presented, 
but  more  often  the  ex-officio  trustee  who  might  be  an 
alumnus  of  some  other  college,  or  possibly  ex-officio 
trustee  of  some  other  university,  regarded  his  duties 
lightly  and  seldom  attended  the  meetings  of  the  board. 
In  many  cases  the  governor  of  the  state  was  never 
present  during  his  entire  term  of  office,  and  in  most 
cases  few  of  the  ex-officio  trustees  attended  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Board.  Not  infrequently  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction  has  been  present,  but  more 
often  the  chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York  has  been  absent.  In  fact,  it  is  a  ques- 
tion whether  it  is  desirable  for  the  permanent  policy 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      215 

of  a  university  to  be  decided  or  capable  of  decision 
by  the  accidental  presence  of  a  state  official  whose  term 
of  office  is  limited,  who  cannot  be  responsible  for  the 
execution  of  the  policy  for  which  he  may  have  voted, 
and  who  may  be  unfitted,  both  by  nature  as  well  as  by 
experience,  for  administering  an  educational  trust 
of  such  magnitude.  The  considerations  which  led 
to  the  enlargement  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  the 
expediency  of  having  great  centers  of  population  rep- 
resented in  the  Board.  If  trustees  were  chosen  largely 
from  Ithaca,  the  university  would  become  a  local  in- 
stitution. It  seemed  therefore  desirable  to  elect  trus- 
tees who  should  represent  the  interests  of  the  uni- 
versity in  the  great  cities  of  the  state.  Unconsciously, 
perhaps,  the  tendency  to  elect  citizens  of  Ithaca  to  the 
Board  had  limited  the  number  of  trustees  from  other 
places.  The  character  of  the  university  was  therefore 
amended  so  as  to  double  the  number  of  elective  trus- 
tees, the  mode  of  election  to  be  the  same  as  before. 
This  act  became  a  law  on  March  8, 1895.  Of  the  fifteen 
additional  trustees,  five  were  to  be  chosen  by  the 
alumni,  thus  doubling  its  representation  in  the  board, 
and  ten  by  the  full  board.  The  board  thus  consists 
at  the  present  time  of  thirty-nine  members,  of  whom 
eight  are  ex-officio,  and  one  is  a  life  trustee,  being  the 
oldest  lineal  male  descendant  of  the  founder,  and 
thirty  elected  for  a  term  of  five  years,  of  whom  the 
Board  choose  four,  and  the  alumni  two,  annually.  It 
may  be  a  question  whether  aught  valuable  has  been 
established  by  the  enlargement  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees in  the  form  adopted.  The  alumni  trustees  are 
the  most  interested  of  the  entire  body  of  trustees,  and 
most  familiar  with  the  needs  of  the  university.  A 
large  body  is  apt  to  be  unwieldy,  to  weaken  responsi- 
bility, and  to  make  members  indifferent  to  the  personal 
share  of  administration  which  devolves  upon  them. 


216      COENELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY 

If  the  question  be  asked  whether  the  present  organi- 
zation has  secured  a  wider  interest  in  the  university, 
in  the  great  centers  of  the  state,  and  in  adjoining 
states,  a  negative  answer  must  be  given.    It  is  seldom 
that  over  two-fifths  of  the  trustees  are  present  at  a 
meeting,  and  one-half  of  the  full  attendance  is  prac- 
tically never  attained.     So  far  as  the  choice  of  trus- 
tees by  the  full  Board  has  fallen  upon  the  alumni,  it 
has  secured  men  who  are  in  all  cases  in  sympathy  with 
its  interests  and  active  in  promoting  them.     It  is  prob- 
able that  a  limitation  of  the  number  of  local  trustees 
and  the  choice  of  representative  men  outside  the  city 
of  Ithaca,  possibly  in  adjoining  states,  would  give  the 
university  a  character  other  than  that  of  a  local  uni- 
versity and  one  provincial  in  its  administration.     It 
is,  however,  true  that  the  largest  constituency  of  the 
university  is  found  in  the  state  of  New  York,  and  its 
largest  number  of  trustees  must  be  chosen  from  that 
state. 

Formerly,  meetings  of  the  trustees  were  held  in  other 
cities,  thus  facilitating  the  attendances  of  the  trustees 
from  abroad,  and  making  the  local  influence  less 
dominant. 

The  recognition  by  the  state  legislature  of  the  serv- 
ices which  the  university  rendered  to  the  state  has 
been  conspicuous  during  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Schurman.  In  view  of  the  annual  contribution 
which  the  university  made  to  the  state,  by  educating 
nearly  eight  hundred  students  free  of  expense,  and 
providing  scholarships  for  others,  it  was  proposed  that 
the  state  should  establish  a  State  Normal  College  at 
the  university,  for  the  higher  training  of  teachers. 
Such  a  college  would  assume  the  character  of  a  pro- 
fessional school  of  the  highest  kind,  ranking  with  the 
professional  schools  of  medicine  and  law,  and  based 
upon    thorough    preparation    of    collegiate    courses. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      217 


Such  an  institution  would  stand  above  the  normal 
schools  in  rank,  and  would  give  to  teachers  a  scientific 
training  in  the  philosophy  and  practice  of  their  pro- 
fession. 

The  erection  of  an  astronomical  observatory  and  the 
establishment  of  a  professorship  of  astronomy  were 
seriously  considered  at  this  time.  While  the  atmos- 
pheric conditions  of  the  lake  region  of  central  New 
York  do  not  afford  the  clear  sky  or  the  dry  air  which 
is  necessary  for  the  highest  class  of  astronomical  in- 
vestigations, still  it  was  felt  that  this  great  field  of 
science,  so  rich  in  its  revelations  in  chemistry  and 
physics,  and  of  importance  in  determining  any  ques- 
tion of  the  origin  and  early  history  of  the  universe, 
should  find  recognition  here.  It  has  been  found  neces- 
sary in  the  case  of  other  universities  to  locate  astro- 
nomical observatories  away  from  the  clouded  atmos- 
phere of  cities,  as  well  as  above  the  sea  level  and  the 
humid  air  of  the  country.  The  immense  expense  in- 
volved in  equipping  such  an  observatory  and  provid- 
ing it  with  all  the  instruments  necessary  for  physical 
research  has,  up  to  the  present  time,  made  it  impossible 
to  undertake  such  an  enterprise.  Higher  astronomy 
would  appeal  to  a  few  expert  advanced  students.  The 
equipment  of  such  an  observatory  would  be  in  the  in- 
terests of  pure  science  and  investigation,  rather  than 
for  the  instruction  of  any  considerable  number. 

The  year  1895-96  was  marked  by  several  important 
changes  in  the  organization  of  the  university,  as  well 
as  in  certain  features  of  the  degrees  offered.  Up  to  the 
date  of  the  establishment  of  the  School  of  Law,  in 
1886,  a  single  faculty  had  exercised  jurisdiction  over 
the  departments  of  study.  The  law  faculty  was  made 
autonomous  at  the  same  time,  and,  as  many  of  its 
courses  were  pursued  by  students  in  the  general 
courses,  a  correlation  of  authority  and  of  privilege 


218      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

on  the  part  of  students  in  the  two  faculties  was  estab- 
lished. A  single  faculty  was  adequate  at  the  opening 
of  the  university  to  deal  with  all  educational  questions. 
The  number  of  students  had,  however,  increased  in 
1896  from  three  hundred,  at  the  opening  of  the  uni- 
versity, to  seventeen  hundred.  The  growth  of  the  va- 
rious technical  courses  and  the  enlargement  of  the 
general  courses  had  introduced  new  fields  of  study. 
At  the  same  time,  the  work  of  the  students  was  more 
and  more  specialized  in  distinctive  fields.  It  there- 
fore seemed  desirable  to  group  the  students  according 
to  the  direction  of  their  work  and,  in  place  of  a  single 
faculty,  exercising  jurisdiction  over  all,  create  sepa- 
rate colleges,  each  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  director 
or  dean.  The  university  was  therefore  divided  into  the 
Graduate  Department,  the  Academic  Department,  the 
latter  being  distinguished  later  as  the  College  of  Arts 
and  Sciences  (1903),  the  College  of  Law,  the  College  of 
Civil  Engineering,  the  Sibley  College  of  Mechanical 
Engineering  and  Mechanic  Arts,  the  College  of  Archi- 
tecture, the  College  of  Agriculture,  and  the  New  York 
State  Veterinary  College.  To  this  list  were  added  sub- 
sequently the  New  York  State  College  of  Forestry 
and  the  Cornell  University  Medical  College  in  New 
York  City,  established  in  1898.  The  Graduate  Depart- 
ment was  placed  under  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of 
the  general  faculty,  under  whose  sanction  all  advanced 
degrees  were  awarded. 

Questions  of  discipline  were  referred  to  the  faculty 
in  which  the  student  was  registered.  Each  faculty  has 
also  control  of  the  standing  of  students  in  that  college, 
with  the  right  to  drop  or  to  dismiss  any  students  who 
were  found  deficient  in  scholarship. 

At  the  same  time,  it  was  recognized  that  while  a 
student  might  be  registered  in  a  technical  course, 
the  majority  of  his  studies  would  be  embraced  in  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      219 

College  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  The  amount  of  in- 
struction in  general  subjects  given  by  the  College  of 
Arts  and  Sciences  varies  in  the  different  departments, 
amounting  often  to  from  sixty  to  seventy  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  work  of  the  students.  A  student  would  thus 
be  formally  registered  in  a  given  college,  and  be  ame- 
nable to  that  college,  while  his  work  was  pursued  in  the 
College  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  It  is  important  to  recog- 
nize that  while  in  recent  years  the  growth  of  scientific 
and  technical  study  has  increased  in  all  universities, 
the  number  of  students  in  the  former  course  in  Arts 
has  possibly  not  kept  pace  with  this  new  demand  for 
professional  education;  still,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
every  increase  in  the  number  of  students  has  created 
in  effect  a  demand  for  additional  instruction,  in  the 
department  of  arts.  Thus,  while  this  important  col- 
lege has  not  perhaps  formally  grown,  the  amount  of 
instruction  required  in  it,  and  the  number  of  students 
pursuing  courses  falling  within  its  province,  has  vastly 
increased.  It  may  be  a  question  whether  the  appro- 
priations for  this  college,  which  in  addition  to  the 
instruction  of  its  own  students  furnishes  a  major  part 
of  all  the  instruction  in  the  other  colleges,  except  those 
of  Law  and  Medicine,  have  kept  pace  with  the  amounts 
bestowed  upon  the  technical  schools. 

The  New  York  State  Veterinary  College  was  estab- 
lished by  an  act  of  the  legislature  in  1894.  Legisla- 
tive appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  college  were 
made  in  the  laws  of  that  year  and  of  the  subsequent 
year,  appropriating  $150,000  for  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  suitable  buildings.  The  legislature  of 
1896  made  provision  for  the  college  by  appropriating 
$25,000  for  its  support,  including  such  appropriation 
in  the  act  providing  for  the  maintenance  of  the  state 
government  and  the  various  state  institutions.  The 
college  was  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1896.    In  the  fol- 


220      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

lowing  year,  on  May  22,  1897,  a  statute  was  passed 
providing  for  the  administration  of  the  college.  It 
was  provided  that  no  tuition  fees  should  be  required 
of  students  pursuing  the  regular  veterinary  course, 
who  for  a  year  or  more  immediately  preceding  their 
admission  shall  have  been  residents  of  this  state. 

The  establishment  by  the  state  of  New  York  of  a 
State  College  of  Veterinary  Science  led  in  this  year 
(1895-96)  to  the  organization  of  the  Veterinary  College 
and  to  a  redistribution  of  certain  branches  of  science. 

Professor  Gage  became  professor  of  microscopical 
technology,  histology,  and  embryology;  Dr.  Fish  be- 
came assistant  professor  of  veterinary  and  comparative 
physiology,  materia  medica,  and  pharmacy;  Dr.  Hop- 
kins became  assistant  professor  of  veterinary  anatomy 
and  anatomical  methods. 

As  a  corollary  to  absolute  freedom  of  election  of- 
fered in  the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  in  place  of 
the  three  degrees  in  the  general  courses  which  had  pre- 
^/iously  been  given.  Bachelor  of  Arts,  Bachelor  of 
Science,  and  Bachelor  of  Philosophy,  one  degree  was 
established,  that  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  This  action  was 
perhaps  the  most  radical  at  the  time  that  has  been 
taken  by  any  college.  It  was  under  consideration  and 
debate  for  nearly  half  a  year ;  great  diversity  of  views 
was  manifest,  and  even  strenuous  protest.  It  was 
argued  on  one  side  that  a  degree  should  indicate  a  dis- 
tinctive line  of  work,  that  a  student  who  went  forth 
trained  in  a  classical  language  should  bear  a  degree 
which  was  the  index  of  such  study;  that  a  student 
whose  work  was  mainly  in  science  and  mathematics 
should  bear  a  degree  corresponding  to  the  course  which 
he  had  pursued.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  held  that 
the  absolute  equality  of  all  studies  as  instruments  of 
culture  and  as  a  preparation  for  the  work  of  life  should 
be  recognized,  and  that  one  degree  adequately  repre- 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      221 

sented  a  course  of  study  in  the  College  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  whatever  the  subjects  pursued.  The  action 
thus  taken  was  hotly  debated  in  educational  associa- 
tions, and  has  not  been  universally  adopted.  Strenu- 
ous advocates  of  the  old-time  classical  culture,  and 
of  the  original  value  of  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts, 
have,  in  certain  colleges,  even  in  enlarging  the  field 
of  election,  differentiated  the  character  of  the  work  by 
different  degrees. 

The  thesis  previously  required  of  all  students  for 
the  bachelor's  degree  was  made  elective  in  1898,  thus 
doing  away  with  the  last  trace  of  required  work  in  the 
College  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 

As  a  corollary  of  this  action,  the  advanced  degrees 
of  Master  of  Philosophy,  Master  of  Literature,  Master 
of  Science,  and  Doctor  of  Science  were  abolished,  and 
in  place  of  them  the  degrees  of  Master  of  Arts  and 
Doctor  of  Philosophy  employed. 

Meantime,  one  of  those  periodical  declines  in  at- 
tendance which  affect  all  institutions  of  learning  was 
manifest.  The  maximum  number  of  students  attained 
in  the  year  1893-94,  1,801,  was  not  reached  for  three 
years,  when  the  attendance  was  1,808;  in  the  following 
year  it  was  1,83.5.  The  explanation  of  this  decline  is 
largely  due  to  the  financial  crisis  of  1893,  which  was 
not  fully  felt  until  the  subsequent  year.  Students  who 
were  in  college  during  that  year  naturally  remained, 
even  with  personal  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  their  fam- 
ilies, in  order  to  complete  their  course.  Increase  in 
the  requirements  for  admission  may  have  affected  in 
part  this  decrease,  but  as  these  requirements  did  not 
go  into  effect  fully  until  1898,  when  the  number  of  stu- 
dents had  increased  nearly  three  hundred,  it  is  probable 
that  the  diminution  was  due  mainly  to  the  social  and 
financial  condition  of  the  time. 

President  Schurman,  in  his  report  for  1894-95,  dis- 


222      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cussed  the  question  of  the  superannuation  of  pro- 
fessors, maintaining  the  wisdom  on  the  part  of  the 
university  of  making  provisions  for  the  retirement  of 
professors  at  a  definite  age,  with  a  pension  for  the  re- 
maining years  of  their  lives.  He  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  older  professors  had  accepted  po- 
sitions here  when  salaries  were  necessarily  limited, 
thus,  in  numerous  cases,  suffering  a  disadvantage  in 
comparison  with  the  higher  salaries  paid  to  professors 
of  recent  appointment.  He  outlined  a  system  which 
exists  in  the  public  schools  of  Toronto,  and  in  part, 
though  imperfect  in  detail,  in  the  University  of  To- 
ronto. He  suggested  that  no  wiser,  more  fruitful,  or 
economical  disposal  could  be  made  of  the  Fayerweather 
legacy,  at  that  time  estimated  at  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  than  to  establish  with 
it  a  Fayerweather  Pension  Fund ;  also,  that  so  much  of 
that  fund  as  had  already  been  turned  into  the  general 
funds  might  be  withdrawn  and  employed  for  this  pur- 
pose. No  action  on  this  subject  was  taken  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  at  the  time. 

The  Board  of  Trustees,  however,  adopted  on  March 
4,  1896,  a  resolution  cordially  endorsing  the  scheme  of 
the  Professorial  Pension  Fund,  but  expressing  the 
opinion  that  it  was  unwise  to  use  the  general  funds  of 
the  university,  or  gifts  not  especially  made  for  the 
purpose,  to  pension  professors,  and  expressing  the 
"  willingness  to  receive  contributions  from  former 
students,  and  from  friends  of  the  university,  for  the 
establishment  of  such  fund  (which  should  be  increased 
by  annual  contributions  from  all  professors  desiring  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  advantage  thereof)",  and  also 
expressing  a  willingness  to  invest  the  money  thus  ob- 
tained and  manage  the  same  without  cost  to  the  bene- 
factors or  beneficiaries.  ''  The  object  would  appeal  to 
graduates  and  old  students  who  feel  special  obliga- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      223 


tions  to  the  men  who  have  opened  to  them  the  gate- 
ways of  knowledge  and  enlarged  and  enriched  their 
lives."  The  report  proceeds:  "Professors  belong 
to  a  class  who  have  consented  to  forego  the  advantages 
of  lucrative  employment  that  they  may  devote  them- 
selves to  the  cultivation  of  science  and  letters,  and  to 
the  instruction  of  youth.  The  co-operative  scheme  en- 
dorsed by  the  Board  does  not  endanger  the  individual's 
own  thrift  and  self-help ;  it  stimulates  and  supplements 
them. ' ' 

No  further  action  was  taken  under  these  resolutions 
until  the  year  1903,  when  an  anonymous  friend  of  the 
university  gave  $150,000,  to  be  placed  at  compound 
interest  for  eleven  years  until  it  should  amount  to 
$250,000.  This  accumulated  sum  was  then  to  be  con- 
sidered the  gift  of  this  benefactor,  and  the  inviolable 
capital  of  the  Professorial  Fund.  The  annual  contri- 
butions of  the  professors  were  to  begin  in  1903.  For 
the  period  of  eleven  years  no  charge  of  any  kind  was 
to  be  made,  either  against  the  accumulated  gift  of  the 
benefactor  or  the  accumulated  contributions  of  the 
professors.  No  professor  retiring  before  1914  was  to 
be  regarded  as  eligible  for  admission  to  the  benefits 
of  this  retiring  fund.  It  was  provided  that  the  total 
pension  payment  to  each  professor  should  be  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  per  annum.  The  first  condition  of 
the  enjoyment  of  any  portion  of  the  income  was  to  be 
an  annual  contribution  on  the  part  of  the  professor, 
which  contribution  through  a  series  of  years  should 
provide  for  one-fourth  of  the  pension  received.  There 
was  appended  to  this  scheme  a  table  showing  the 
amount  of  payment  which  should  be  made  at  different 
ages  by  the  professors,  beginning  with  an  annual  in- 
come of  thirty-three  dollars  at  the  age  of  thirty,  and 
reaching  two  hundred  and  eight  dollars  at  the  age  of 
fifty-nine. 


224      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

In  case  any  professor  should  die  before  reaching  the 
age  of  seventy  years,  it  was  provided  that  the  amount 
of  all  his  payments  to  the  above  fund,  compounded 
semi-annually  at  the  rate  of  one  and  one-half  per  cent., 
should  be  returned  to  his  estate.  In  connection  with  the 
resolution  establishing  the  pension  system,  action  was 
taken  by  which  five  professors  who  had  reached  the  age 
of  seventy  years  were  retired,  whose  terms  of  service 
were  eight,  twelve,  thirty,  thirty-four,  and  thirty-five 
years  respectively,  each  with  a  full  salary  for  one  year, 
and  with  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  year  for  four 
years. 

The  wise  generosity  of  the  giver  of  this  retiring  fund 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Similar,  but  not  identical, 
action  had  been  taken  previously  by  many  of  the  lead- 
ing universities  of  the  country.  Many  universities 
have  for  years  made  generous  provision  for  retiring 
professors  without  formulating  a  distinct  policy  upon 
this  subject.  The  defect  of  the  system  as  outlined  is 
that  the  action  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  does  not  es- 
tablish a  proper  service  pension,  based  upon  length 
of  service,  but  combines  with  it  a  savings-bank  sys- 
tem, which  necessitates  not  merely  intricate  bookkeep- 
ing, but  makes  a  special  demand  that  the  professor 
shall  pay  a  considerable  part  of  his  own  pension.  The 
pension  paid  by  the  university  does  not  begin  until  the 
accumulated  contribution  of  the  professor  is  exhausted, 
that  is,  until  he  has  reached  his  seventy-third  year.  It 
is  obvious  that  the  number  enjoying  a  pension  will  al- 
ways be  limited.  At  the  time  of  the  enactment  of  this 
statute,  the  number  of  professors  in  active  service 
thirty-five  years  from  the  foundation  of  the  university, 
who  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy,  after  serving 
twenty  years,  was  but  two. 

The  university  authorities  thus  become  the  custo- 
dians of  a  certain  part  of  the  salary  of  a  professor, 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     225 


who  is  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  property  and  the 
possibility  of  its  wise  increase.    The  statute  assumes 
that  the  professor  is  unable  to  care  judiciously  for  his 
property,  and  substitutes  an  official  control  of  a  portion 
of  his  earnings,  as  a  condition  of  his  enjoyment  of  any 
pension.     The  probabilities  of  life  indicate  that  only 
a  limited  number  of  professors  who  contribute  to  such 
a  fund  will  reach  the  age  of  seventy  years.    In  case 
of   his   death   before   reaching    the    age    of    seventy, 
his  estate  will  suffer  an  actual  loss  by  the  difference 
between  the  amount  of  his  savings   accumulated  at 
three   per   cent.,    and   the   amount   received   for   the 
use  of  his  money  by  the  university,  which  receives 
now  five  per  cent,  on  its  investments.    A  serious  defect 
in  the  system  is  that  no  provision  is  made  for  the  volun- 
tary retirement  of  a  professor  at  an  age  when  he  can 
enjoy  his  pension.    Most  scholars  look  forward  to  re- 
tirement as  affording  an  opportunity  to  pursue  studies, 
and  to  finish  investigations  for  which  their  active  career 
has  afforded  limited  leisure.    He  will  thus  have  made  a 
contribution  to  the  exchequer  of  the  university,  without 
receiving  any  advantages  from  the  system.    To  this  ex- 
tent the  policy  adopted  defeats  itself.    Even  should  a 
professor  reach  the  age  of  seventy  years,  his  contribu- 
tion to   the  Professorial   Fund,   accumulated  at   the 
market  rates  of  money,  will  suffice  to  pay  his  pension  for 
several  years,  and  the  university  may,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, escape  entirely  contributing  anything  to  the 
fund  in  question. 

The  system  in  vogue  elsewhere  is  more  scientific.  A 
pension  becomes  a  proper  service  pension,  based  upon 
length  of  service.  Any  professor  who  has  served 
twenty  years  may  have  the  benefit  of  it  without  being 
taxed  to  contribute  to  furnish  his  own  pension.  In 
some  cases,  for  every  year  that  he  has  served  over 
twenty,  his  pension  is  increased  by  one-sixtieth  of  his 


226     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

salary,  but  his  pension  can  in  no  case  exceed  two-thirds 
of  the  entire  amount  of  his  salary. 

The  age  of  retirement  prescribed  by  the  statutes  of 
different  institutions,  differs.  At  Yale,  any  professor 
or  assistant  professor  after  twenty-five  years  of  serv- 
ice may  be  retired  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  at  his  own 
request,  with  a  retiring  allowance  of  one-half  his  last 
annual  salary.  Compulsory  retirement  at  sixty-eight 
is  established.  At  Columbia,  all  questions  of  pensions 
and  the  length  of  service  required  for  such  pensions 
are  fixed  in  individual  instances  by  the  trustees.  At 
Harvard,  any  professor  reaching  the  age  of  sixty 
years  may  retire  if  he  so  choose  with  a  pension  in  pro- 
portion to  his  years  of  service.  The  system  as  estab- 
lished by  this  university  is  at  present  less  perfect  in 
details  than  that  established  in  other  universities. 

The  year  1898  is  memorable  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Cornell  University  Medical  College  in  New  York 
City,  which  opened  on  October  4th  of  that  year.  The 
establishment  of  this  college  was  made  possible  by  the 
munificence  of  Colonel  Oliver  H.  Payne.  Colonel 
Payne  had  passed  through  a  period  of  ill  health,  in 
which  his  attention  had  been  called  to  the  need  of 
thoroughly  trained  and  scientific  physicians.  The 
benefit  which  he  had  received  from  such  a  physician 
led  him  to  conceive  the  munificent  purpose  of  founding 
an  institution  which  should  send  out  physicians 
equally  prepared.  The  establishment  of  a  similar  in- 
stitution in  Ithaca  had  failed  of  approval  in  years  past, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  great  hospitals,  which  make 
clinics  embracing  all  diseases  possible.  Friends  of 
the  university,  looking  forward  to  the  establishment 
of  various  faculties,  had  advocated  the  erection  here 
of  hospitals,  either  under  the  patronage  of  the  state 
or  by  private  benevolence,  which  should  minister  to 
the  needs  of  the  western  and  southern  portions  of  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      227 


state,  and  thus  make  possible  the  establishment  of  a 
medical  college. 

In  founding  this  new  medical  school  in  New  York, 
provision  was  made  to  establish  upon  a  permanent 
basis  the  medical  preparatory  department  in  Ithaca, 
so  that  it  should  include  the  first  two  years  of  the  medi- 
cal course.  Students  of  arts  and  others  who  had  pur- 
sued here  those  sciences  which  are  at  the  foundation 
of  medicine,  would  thus  continue  their  further  studies 
under  the  most  favorable  auspices  in  New  York.  The 
full  realization  of  the  possibilities  of  such  a  prepara- 
tory course  was  attained  through  the  splendid  gift  of 
Mr.  Dean  Sage,  by  which  a  building  for  the  medical 
school  in  Ithaca  was  erected  on  the  campus. 

The  university  experienced  an  additional  enlarge- 
ment in  the  same  year  from  the  establishment  of  the 
New  York  State  College  of  Forestry. 

President  Schurman  was  absent  from  January  23, 
1899,  to  September  of  that  year,  acting  as  chairman  of 
the  First  Philippine  Commission.  During  his  absence. 
Professor  Crane  performed  efficiently  the  duties  of 
acting  president. 

In  the  report  of  the  president  for  the  academic  year 
1901-02,  the  need  of  a  Hall  of  Humanities  was  pre- 
sented with  great  vigor  and  ability.  This  building, 
really  the  initial  need  at  the  opening  of  the  university, 
still  awaited  realization.  The  income  of  the  university 
had  for  several  years  exceeded  the  expenses  by  so 
large  a  sum  that  it  was  found  possible  to  erect  this 
building  out  of  accumulated  and  prospective  funds.  It 
was  voted  to  appropriate  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year 
for  five  years  to  meet  the  cost  of  the  structure,  the 
erection  and  equipment  of  which  were  estimated  at  a 
quarter  of  a  million  dollars.  President  Schurman 
recommended  that  this  hall  should  bear  the  honored 
name  of  Goldwin   Smith,  ''  the  most  illustrious  ex- 


228     COENELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY 

ponent  of  literary  culture  who  ever  sat  in  the  Cornell 
faculty,  of  which  he  was  an  original  member,  and  is 
still  emeritus  professor  of  English  history."  It  was 
proposed  to  provide  ample  accommodations  for  the 
classics,  modern  languages,  philosophy,  pedagogy,  his- 
tory, and  political  science.  By  removing  these  depart- 
ments from  White  and  Morrill  halls,  space  would  be 
left  for  an  expansion  of  the  departments  of  psychology, 
mathematics,  and  entomology. 

This  year  was  also  marked  by  an  effort  to  secure  an 
artistic  plan  of  the  campus.  In  order  that  the  uni- 
versity might  be  worthy  of  its  site,  not  only  beautiful 
buildings,  but  a  harmonious  arrangement  of  them,  were 
regarded  as  necessary. 

The  year  1902-03  was  marked  by  a  serious  epidemic, 
which  can  only  be  compared  to  similar  diseases  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  which  frequently  interrupted  the  work  of 
universities,  scattered  their  students,  and  made  re- 
sumption of  studies  impossible  for  a  considerable 
period.  Toward  the  close  of  January,  1903,  previous 
isolated  cases  of  typhoid  fever  became  more  frequent, 
multiplying  with  startling  rapidity,  and  before  the 
danger  was  realized,  or  it  was  possible  to  anticipate 
its  magnitude,  the  city  was  practically  prostrated  with 
a  scourge  of  this  dread  disease.  In  the  few  months 
which  followed,  probably  twelve  hundred  cases  of  the 
disease,  which  had  originated  here,  were  under  treat- 
ment either  within  the  city  or  elsewhere.  The  cause  of 
this  swift  and  sudden  fatality  is  not  definitely  known. 
It  is  probable  that  a  creek  which  furnishes  in  part  the 
water  supply  of  the  city  had  become  impure,  and  the 
poison  from  probably  a  single  case  extended  through- 
out the  entire  water  supply  of  the  city.  The  beneficent 
services  of  the  Infirmary  were  now  felt  as  never  be- 
fore. Although  admirably  equipped  to  accommodate 
twenty  students  daily,  many  prostrated  with  the  dis- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      229 

ease  were  borne  to  its  doors.  They  could  not  be  turned 
away;  there  was  at  first  no  other  place  available  for 
their  reception,  and  more  than  sixty  were  received  at 
a  time  in  this  single  building.  The  exigencies  of  the 
case  soon  revealed  the  need  of  additional  accoromoda- 
tions.  Another  residence  was  secured,  and  the  new 
medical  school  building  was  opened  for  the  reception 
of  patients.  Only  those  who  passed  through  the  pain- 
ful experiences  of  the  time  can  appreciate  in  any  degree 
its  gloom  and  uncertainty.  In  the  morning  it  was 
not  known  who  would  be  stricken  before  the  evening. 
The  student  or  the  friend  who  greeted  you  bravely 
and  cheerfully  might  be  prostrated  before  the  evening, 
and  in  the  morning  there  were  the  sad  tidings  of  those 
who  had  fallen  ill  since  the  sunset.  The  univer- 
sity authorities  with  lavish  effort  sought  to  make  pro- 
vision for  an  emergency  which  they  could  not  have 
foreseen,  and  which  has  seldom  been  surpassed.  Many 
students  were  recalled  to  their  homes,  and  the  number 
in  actual  attendance  was  perhaps  only  a  fraction  of 
the  entire  number  of  students.  One  hundred  and 
thirty-one  students  were  sick  in  Ithaca,  of  whom  thir- 
teen died,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  out  of  Ithaca,  of 
whom  sixteen  died.  The  entire  number  of  students 
who  were  ill  was  about  three  hundred.  The  income  of 
the  university  from  the  loss  of  tuition  was  decreased 
by  approximately  forty  thousand  dollars. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  in  connection  with  the  epidemic, 
that  no  student  or  member  of  the  family  of  the  profes- 
sors residing  on  the  campus  was  ill  with  the  disease, 
the  private  residences  and  the  chapter  houses  on  the 
campus  being  supplied  with  water  by  the  university 
from  Fall  Creek.  The  illness  of  students  was  most 
marked  among  those  who  resided  in  private  houses  on 
East  Hill,  where,  in  a  single  chapter  house,  the  number 
of  members  of  which  probably  did  not  exceed  twenty- 


230     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

four,  there  were  eleven  cases  of  the  disease.  For  sev- 
eral years  President  Schurman  had  urged  the  necessity 
of  the  establishment  of  halls  of  residence  for  students 
on  the  university  grounds,  the  importance  of  which  was 
now  fully  realized.  Only  in  this  way  was  it  believed  to 
be  possible  to  create  a  university  atmosphere.  In  such 
halls  the  university  could  make  provision  for  the  wel- 
fare of  students,  such  as  is  impracticable  when  they 
are  scattered  in  boarding  houses,  often  remote  from 
the  university. 

The  gloom  of  this  period  was  brightened  by  the  gen- 
erous thought  of  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie.  Mr.  Carnegie 
had  himself  suifered  from  tyi^hoid  fever.  He  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  pay  all  the  bills  incurred  by  students  of 
Cornell  University  on  account  of  sickness  in  the  recent 
epidemic,  where  such  bills  would  be  felt  as  a  burden  by 
the  students  or  their  parents.  Of  this  act.  President 
Schurman  remarked :  "  It  may  be  said  with  truth  that 
of  all  the  gifts,  amounting  to  scores  of  millions  of  dol- 
lars, made  by  this  philanthropist,  few  if  any  can  have 
touched  so  deeply  so  many  human  hearts  and  brought 
help  and  encouragement  to  so  many  struggling  and 
self-supporting  youths,  whom  the  heavy  strokes  of  ill 
fortune  had  made  victims,  not  only  of  suffering,  but  in 
some  cases  of  despondency,  and  even  of  despair;  and 
'  Sick  and  he  ministered  unto  us  '  is  the  grateful  tribute 
of  Cornell  students."  The  students,  at  a  general  meet- 
ing, held  on  Friday  evening.  May  8,  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions :  ' '  We  wish  to  express  to  Mr.  Car- 
negie our  deep  sense  of  gratitude  and  appreciation  for 
the  thoughtful  and  noble  gift  to  those  of  our  number 
who  were  stricken  with  the  fever, — a  gift  which  has 
enabled  many  of  them  to  continue  their  work  in  the 
university,  and  has  lifted  a  heavy  burden  from  scores 
of  others.  This  gift,  coming  straight  from  the  heart 
of  the  donor,  has  touched  us  all  very  deeply,  and  will 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      231 

keep  him  in  lasting  and  affectionate  remembrance 
among  all  Cornellians. " 

Mr.  Carnegie  did  not  rest  with  his  generous  provi- 
sion for  students  who  had  suffered  by  the  epidemic. 
He  offered  to  erect  for  the  university  a  filtration  plant 
which  should  guarantee  permanently  an  abundant  and 
healthful  water  supply  for  the  residents  on  the  uni- 
versity grounds.  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie's  entire  gift 
for  the  Student  Relief  Fund  and  the  filtration  plant 
reached  the  sum  of  $130,909.34. 

It  was  realized  that  the  future  of  the  university  de- 
pended upon  the  swift  adoption  of  measures  which 
would  restore  public  confidence,  and  make  a  residence 
in  the  city  safe  for  students.  With  this  purpose  domi- 
nant, a  loan  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  was 
offered  to  the  Ithaca  Water  Company  to  erect  a  filtra- 
tion system  which  would  provide  pure  water  for  the 
city,  and  thus  indirectly  protect  the  students  of  the 
university. 

The  students  were  impressed  with  the  necessity  of 
the  establishment  of  residential  and  dining  halls,  and 
passed  resolutions  in  a  public  meeting  affirming  that  a 
system  of  dormitories,  supervised  and  controlled  by 
the  university,  was  imperatively  needed.  The  trustees, 
at  their  meeting  on  April  18,  voted  that  the  university 
would  pledge  itself  to  duplicate  out  of  its  own  funds 
all  residential  halls  received  as  unrestricted  gifts  up 
to  the  aggregate  limit  of  $500,000,  "  it  being  under- 
stood that  such  halls  shall  be  of  a  plain  substantial 
character,  fireproof,  and  as  beautiful  as  is  compatible 
with  simplicity  and  economy." 

The  following  year  will  always  be  one  marked  in  the 
history  of  the  university,  as  it  saw  the  beginning  of  a 
building  era  which  has  been  characteristic  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Schurman.  It  is  notable  for 
the  state  appropriation  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dol- 


232      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTOEY 


lars  for  the  Agricultural  College ;  the  gift  of  the  Loomis 
Laboratory  and  its  endowment,  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Cornell  University  Medical  College  in  New  York,  the 
value  of  which  exceeds  $240,000 ;  the  completion  of  the 
gift  of  General  Alfred  C.  Barnes,  for  the  Fuertes  Ob- 
servatory; the  noble  legacy  of  Mr.  F.  W.  Guiteau,  for 
the  assistance  of  deserving  students,  the  amount  of 
which  will  probably  reach  $150,000;  Mr.  William  H. 
Sage's  gift  of  $30,000  for  the  enlargement  and  deco- 
ration of  Sage  Chapel;  the  gift  of  $10,000  from  Mrs. 
Dean  Sage,  to  increase  the  Dean  Sage  Sermon  Fund, 
and  also  the  gift  of  a  pulpit  of  Caen  stone  for  the 
chapel ;  besides,  a  gift  of  $100,000  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  Cornell  University  Medical  College  in  New  York, 
from  Colonel* Oliver  H.  Payne. 


CHAPTER  XV 


MILITAKY    INSTETJCTION 


DURING  the  war  the  need  of  thoroughly 
I  trained  officers  to  assume  command  in  the 
'  army  was  strongly  felt.  The  number  of 
cadets  graduating  each  year  from  West 
Point  was  too  small  to  supply  vacancies  in  the  regular 
army.  The  existence  of  military  schools  throughout  the 
South,  in  which  a  considerable  portion  of  the  young 
men  were  educated  in  military  science  and  tactics,  had 
given  the  southern  armies  an  especial  advantage  at  the 
opening  of  the  war.  On  April  4,  1867,  Major  J.  W. 
Whittlesey,  of  the  regular  army,  an  experienced  and 
skilful  officer,  was  ordered  by  the  secretary  of  war 
to  proceed  to  West  Point  and  other  colleges,  and  re- 
port a  suitable  method  of  instruction  in  military 
science  for  such  colleges  in  the  United  States  as  might 
desire  it,  direct  reference  being  made  to  the  provision 
in  the  National  Land  Grant  Act  requiring  military  in- 
struction in  the  new  colleges.  On  November  25,  1867, 
Major  Whittlesey  presented  an  elaborate  report  to  the 
secretary  of  war  recommending  a  form  of  organiza- 
tion and  instruction  in  military  science  in  these  va- 
rious colleges.  By  a  law  passed  July  28,  1866,  it  had 
been  provided  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  the 
President  should  be  authorized  to  detail  an  officer  of 
the  regular  army  to  instruct  in  military  science  and 
tactics  in  the  colleges  established  under  the  Land  Grant 
Act.    The  statute  read  as  follows : 

'^  The  President  may,  upon  the  application  of  any 
established   college   or  university  within  the  United 

233 


234     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

States,  having  capacity  to  educate,  at  the  same  time, 
not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  male  students,  de- 
tail an  officer  of  the  army  to  act  as  president,  superin- 
tendent, or  professor  thereof;  but  the  number  of  offi- 
cers so  detailed  shall  not  exceed  (twenty)  (thirty)  at 
any  time,  and  they  shall  be  apportioned  throughout  the 
United  States,  as  nearly  as  may  be  practicable,  ac- 
cording to  population.  Officers  so  detailed  shall  be 
governed  by  general  rules  prescribed,  from  time  to 
time,  by  the  President.  The  secretary  of  war  is  au- 
thorized to  issue  at  his  discretion,  and  under  proper 
regulations  to  be  prescribed  by  him,  out  of  any  small 
arms  or  pieces  of  field  artillery  belonging  to  the  Gov- 
ernment and  which  can  be  spared  for  that  purpose, 
such  number  of  the  same  as  may  appear  to  be  required 
for  military  instruction  and  practice,  by  the  students 
of  any  college  or  university  under  the  provisions  of 
this  section;  and  the  secretary  shall  require  a  bond  in 
each  case,  in  double  the  value  of  the  property,  for  the 
care  and  safe  keeping  thereof,  and  for  the  return  of 
the  same  when  required. ' '  This  plan  for  national  mili- 
tary education  was  not  presented  to  Congress,  but 
came  before  the  House  Military  Committee.  General 
Garfield  was,  at  the  time,  chairman  of  this  committee 
and  deeply  interested  in  the  proposed  bill  for  military 
education,  which,  it  was  expected,  would  receive  the 
authority  of  Congress  early  in  the  year  1868.  The 
report  was  referred  to  General  Grant  for  his  favorable 
recommendation  to  Congress.  It  was  proposed  to  es- 
tablish a  bureau  of  the  War  Department  in  charge  of  a 
director-general  of  military  education,  whose  duty  it 
should  be  to  inspect  and  supervise  military  academies, 
secure  uniformity  of  instruction,  and  enforce  faithful 
compliance  with  the  laws  and  regulations  on  those  sub- 
jects. Whenever  such  an  institution  should  have 
capacity  sufficient  to  educate  one  hundred  male  stu- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      235 

dents  in  a  complete  course  of  liberal  studies,  with 
grounds  for  military  exercises,  there  should  be  detailed 
a  competent  officer  of  the  army  to  act  as  military  pro- 
fessor, with  an  assistant.  The  President  of  the  United 
States  was  to  have  the  right  to  prescribe  the  course  of 
military  exercises  to  be  taught,  and  establish  general 
regulations  for  the  government  of  the  officers  so  de- 
tailed, but  without  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  in- 
stitution to  self-government.  In  case  any  college  es- 
tablished such  a  course  of  instruction  in  military 
science,  it  was  proposed  that  the  necessary  text-books, 
ordnance  and  ordnance  stores,  camp  and  garrison 
equipage,  with  a  detail  of  one  ordnance  sergeant  and 
two  musicians,  should  be  provided  at  the  expense  of 
the  United  States.  In  order  to  create  enthusiasm  in 
these  studies,  it  was  provided  that  the  faculty  of  arts 
of  the  college  might  recommend  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  each  year  one-tenth  of  the  graduates  dis- 
tinguished for  general  proficiency  in  the  college  course, 
special  attainments  in  military  science  and  skill  in 
military  exercises,  of  good  moral  character  and  sound 
health,  whose  names  should  be  published  in  the  army 
register,  of  whom  one  from  each  college  should  re- 
ceive a  commission  in  the  army,  as  in  the  case  of  gradu- 
ates from  West  Point.  It  was  thus  designed  to  bring 
the  colleges  of  our  country  into  immediate  relation  to 
the  army,  and  make  them  indirect  aids  in  contributing 
to  the  training  of  officers.  It  was  still  further  pro- 
posed that  each  college  thus  constituted  should  receive 
two  thousand  dollars  from  the  United  States  treas- 
ury, to  be  expended  under  the  charge  of  the  director  of 
military  education,  in  the  purchase  of  the  necessary 
books  of  reference,  maps,  models,  and  text-books,  and 
also  ten  thousand  dollars  to  be  expended  in  construct- 
ing a  suitable  building  for  the  purpose  of  an  armory. 
The  report  presented  an  elaborate  scheme  of  instruc- 


236      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

tion  in  military  engineering,  the  theory  of  ordnance 
and  gunnery,  the  art  of  war,  military  history,  the  pur- 
pose of  courts-rftartial  and  the  school  of  the  soldier. 
The  text-books  and  mode  of  instruction  were  to  be  the 
same  as  those  employed  at  West  Point.  The  students 
were  to  be  divided  into  companies  of  from  fifty  to  sixty 
strong.  The  battalion  staif  and  the  company  officers 
were  to  be  taken  from  the  senior  class,  the  staff  ser- 
geants and  the  company  sergeants  from  the  junior 
class,  the  corporals  from  the  sophomore  class,  with 
such  modifications  as  may  suit  the  case  of  students  in 
shorter  or  longer  courses.  It  was  proposed  that  a  uni- 
form should  be  adopted  to  be  worn  by  all  students. 
It  was  thought  that  by  this,  economy  would  be  pro- 
moted, since  it  would  save  the  expense  of  variety  and 
change  of  fashion.  It  would  secure  personal  neatness, 
and  place  all  students  upon  a  footing  of  republican 
equality;  sons  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  meeting  upon 
a  common  level,  would  have  nothing  in  their  apparel  to 
stimulate  the  pride  of  the  one  or  wound  the  self-respect 
of  the  other.  It  was  believed  that  by  wearing  this 
badge,  an  honorable  ambition  to  excel,  refinement  of 
manners,  and  manly  tone  of  character  would  be  cre- 
ated, favorable  to  the  reputation  of  the  class  to  which 
the  student  belonged  and  to  the  honor  of  the  institution 
which  was  in  his  keeping.  Daily  martial  exercises 
were  to  be  rigidly  enforced,  and  only  to  be  remitted  by 
reason  of  conscientious  scruples  or  physical  debility. 
The  discipline  of  the  institution  was  to  be  placed  under 
the  care  of  the  professor  of  the  military  department 
under  the  direction  of  the  university  authorities.  The 
usual  regulations  of  the  camp  as  to  exercise,  recrea- 
tion, sleep,  the  reveille,  the  roll-call,  the  call  to  and 
from  duty,  the  tattoo,  all  in  their  regular  order,  were 
to  aid  and  direct  the  observance  of  college  duties  and 
discipline.    Later,  artillery  and  cavalry  drill  was  to  be 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      237 

added  to  that  of  infantry  study  and  drill,  and  it  was 
proposed  to  fix  a  high  standard  at  the  outset. 

It  is  evident  that  so  general  an  introduction  of  mil- 
itary studies  could  only  have  been  recommended  when 
the  remembrance  of  the  recent  war,  its  perils  and  glo- 
rious achievements,  was  still  vivid.  The  domination 
of  a  military  system  in  literary  institutions  did  not  at 
that  time  seem  impracticable.  Many  of  the  students  of 
the  university  will  recognize  in  this  report  some  of  the 
regulations  of  their  early  days. 

The  trustees  at  their  seventh  meeting  resolved : 

' '  That  while  we  would  not  require  all  students  in  the 
special  courses  to  undergo  military  instruction,  since 
this  would  be  to  do  violence  to  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  university,  yet  we  believe  that  all  general 
courses  of  study  in  the  university  should  include  rudi- 
mentary knowledge  of  military  science  and  a  good  deal 
of  proficiency  in  military  exercises. ' ' 

The  trustees  also  approved  the  draft  of  the  bill 
before  Congress  for  the  promotion  of  military  instruc- 
tion in  the  leading  colleges,  universities,  and  institu- 
tions of  learning  established  under  the  Land  Grant 
Act,  and  expressed  a  willingness  to  co-operate  ear- 
nestly in  any  plan  to  promote  the  most  thorough 
special  military  instruction  whenever  such  means 
should  be  placed  at  their  disposal  so  as  to  enable  them 
to  do  it. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  held  in  Ithaca,  October  6, 
1868,  a  formal  regulation  relating  to  the  military 
department  of  the  university  was  passed : 

''  That  the  students  of  the  university  who  reside  in 
the  university  buildings,  for  discipline,  police,  or  ad- 
ministration, shall  be  placed  on  a  military  basis,  under 
the  immediate  direction  of  the  professor  of  military 
science,  who  shall  be  recognized  as  the  military  com- 
mandant of  the  students.    That  the  military  comman- 


238      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

dant  shall  enforce  the  necessary  regulations  which  may 
from  time  to  time  be  established  by  university  au- 
thority, to  insure  good  order  in  the  quarters  and  mess- 
halls,  with  precision,  and  regular  attendance  upon 
stated  duties;  and  that  all  regulations  so  established 
shall  be  of  binding  obligation  upon  students,  under 
such  sanctions  as  the  president,  by  and  with  the  advice 
of  the  faculty,  may  determine.  That  an  appropriate 
and  economical  uniform  shall  be  fixed  upon,  which,  after 
the  current  academic  year,  shall  be  the  habitual  costume 
for  all  students  pursuing  regular  courses  of  study; 
and  that  thereafter  attention  to  the  instruction  in 
military  tactics  provided  for  in  the  Congressional 
Land  Grant  endowment  of  1862,  shall  be  obligatory 
upon  all  such  students,  the  president  having  authority, 
at  his  discretion,  to  grant  special  exemptions  there- 
from, for  good  cause  shown." 

These  resolutions,  with  the  exception  of  that  portion 
relating  to  the  uniform,  were  adopted.  An  extract 
from  one  of  the  earliest  military  orders  is  worth  pre- 
serving : 

''  Section  2.  At  reveille  (the  signal  for  rising), 
which  will  be  given  by  the  ringing  of  the  university 
bells  at  5  o'clock  a.  m.,  during  the  months  of  April, 
May,  June,  July,  August,  and  September ;  at  half -past 
5  o'clock  A.  M.,  during  the  months  of  March  and  Oc- 
tober; and  at  6  o'clock  a.  m.  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year,  all  cadets  will  rise,  dress,  arrange  their  furni- 
ture, beds,  etc.,  and  sweep  their  rooms.  Sweeping  will 
be  allowed  at  no  other  hour  during  the  day.  Captains 
of  companies  will  inspect  each  room  of  their  respective 
companies  half  an  hour  after  reveille,  to  insure  com- 
pliance with  these  regulations,  and  to  see  that  all 
cadets  are  present. 

*'  Section  3.  At  the  signals  for  meals,  which  will  be 
sounded  by  the  university  bells  as  follows:  breakfast 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      239 

call  at  7  o'clock  a.  m. ;  dinner  call  at  1.30  o'clock  p.  m. ; 
and  supper  call  at  6  o'clock  p.  m.,  companies  will  be 
formed  on  the  company  parades  by  the  first  sergeants, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  captains,  and  will  be 
marched  by  their  captains  in  a  military  and  orderly 
manner,  to  their  proper  places  in  the  mess-halls.  At 
the  breakfast  call,  the  rolls  of  the  companies  will  be 
called  by  the  first  sergeants,  and  the  result  will  be  re- 
ported on  the  spot  to  the  captains.  All  absences  from 
rooms  at  inspections  and  from  roll-calls  will  be  noted 
on  the  morning  reports  of  the  companies,  made  by  the 
captains  to  the  commandant. 

' '  Section  7.  Tattoo  will  be  sounded  by  the  bells  at  9 
o'clock  p.  M.,  immediately  after  which  captains  will 
inspect  the  rooms  of  their  respective  companies  to 
verify  the  presence  of  the  occupants.  Absences  will 
be  noted  on  the  next  morning  report. 

*'  Section  8.  The  hours  between  reveille  and  break- 
fast, between  8  o'clock  a.  m.  and  dinner,  and  between 
7  o'clock  p.  M.  and  tattoo,  will  be  regarded  as  study 
hours ;  during  which  the  utmost  quiet  in  the  rooms  and 
the  halls  of  the  building  will  be  observed,  and  visiting 
between  rooms  as  much  as  possible  avoided,  in  order 
that  those  who  desire  to  study  may  not  be  interrupted. 

'*  Section  10.  On  Sunday  mornings,  at  church  call, 
sounded  by  the  bells,  the  cadets  at  each  building  will 
be  formed  into  squads,  without  regard  to  company  or- 
ganization, and  will  be  marched  by  the  senior  officer 
present  in  each,  to  their  respective  places  of  worship. 
On  arriving  at  the  places,  the  squads  will  break  ranks 
and  enter  without  military  command,  and  after  service 
will  return  without  military  formation. 

*'  Section  11.  Reports  of  absences  from  stated  roll- 
calls  and  inspections,  and  of  other  irregularities  which 
may  be  made  by  captains  under  this  order,  will  be  noti- 
fied by  the  adjutant  to  cadets,  who  will  call  at  the  com- 


240     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

mandant's  office  at  the  next  morning  hour  and  offer 
explanation. 

* '  The  commandant  will  in  person  inspect  the  rooms 
in  both  buildings,  between  the  hours  of  breakfast  and 
dinner,  and  at  other  times.  Rooms  will  never  be 
locked.  Efficient  measures  will  be  taken  for  the  se- 
curity of  property," 

'^  This  military  system  cannot  fail  to  inculcate 
habits  of  promptness,  punctuality,  order,  and  obedi- 
ence to  prescribed  rules  and  constituted  authorities. 
All  of  these  are  no  more  the  fundamental  principles  of 
military  discipline,  and  peculiar  to  that,  than  they  are 
essential  in  a  high  degree  to  the  man  and  the  citizen, 
whether  in  a  public  or  a  private  station. 

''It  is  granted  that  this  great  university  was  not 
founded  for  the  purpose  of  educating  soldiers,  but  if 
it  can  imbue  citizens  with  all  that  is  good  in  soldiers, 
and  fit  them  to  be  soldiers  in  time  of  need,  who  shall 
say  that  its  results  will  not  be  commensurate  with  its 
high  purposes,  and  its  influences  as  beneficent,  as  the 
efforts  to  extend  them  are  self-sacrificing  and  ear- 
nest? "    Later,  this  also  was  prescribed. 

It  is  evident  that  the  trustees  construed  the  obliga- 
tion to  require  military  service  in  the  strictest  manner. 
Under  the  terms  of  the  law,  it  was  necessary  that  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  instruction  in  military 
science  and  tactics,  without  requiring  that  it  should  be 
buiding  upon  all  students.  The  irksomeness  of  these 
petty  military  requirements  was  soon  felt.  Students 
to  whom  military  instruction  was  but  an  incident  in 
a  broad  course  of  literary  and  scientific  studies,  did  not 
submit  willingly  to  these  restrictions  upon  their  per- 
sonal liberty.  The  extent  to  which  the  regulations 
were  enforced  is  shown  by  the  above  general  order 
from  the  military  commandant. 

Students  rose  and  retired  at  the  beat  of  the  drum; 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      241 


they  marched  to  meals  in  military  file;  their  officers 
kept  watch  and  ward  over  their  conduct  at  table; 
breaches  of  decorum  or  failure  to  comply  with  all  the 
requirements  regarding  dress  were  reported  and  pun- 
ished. Punishment  consisted  of  arrest,  confinement  to 
one's  room,  and  other  restrictions.  The  officers  of  the 
corps  were  made  responsible  for  the  enforcement  of 
these  laws,  and  for  a  general  oversight  of  the  order  in 
the  different  dormitories.  One  captain,  who  so  far  for- 
got his  rank  as  to  join  some  of  his  comrades  in  hazing 
mildly  an  obnoxious  student,  was  expelled  from  the 
university,  and  marched  away  amid  vehement  protests 
from  the  student  world,  and  escorted  by  a  procession 
of  his  fellow  students.  This  minute  oversight  of  stu- 
dent life  was,  after  the  departure  of  the  first  military 
commandant,  greatly  relaxed.  The  uniform  was  still 
continued,  and  stirring  debates  were  held  in  the  faculty 
upon  the  style  and  fashion  of  various  parts  of  the  stu- 
dents' dress,  which  were  brought  before  the  body  for 
approval.  The  legislature  authorized,  February  12, 
1869,  the  adjutant-general  to  lend  ordnance  and  ord- 
nance stores,  and  such  camp  and  garrison  equipage 
as  might  from  time  to  time  be  necessary,  for  the  in- 
struction of  students  in  military  tactics.  The  cadets  re- 
ceived in  accordance  with  this  resolution  Springfield 
rifles,  and  a  battery  of  artillery  was  promised  for  the 
following  year  (February  20). 

As  the  remembrance  of  the  war  grew  more  indistinct, 
it  was  difficult  to  awaken  or  continue  enthusiasm  in  mil- 
itary drill.  Had  military  exercises  been  placed  upon 
the  basis  of  modern  gymnastics,  with  the  purpose  of  se- 
curing the  health  of  the  student,  and  the  benefits  of  mil- 
itary discipline  in  producing  a  manly  bearing,  less  ob- 
jection and  fewer  petitions  for  exemption  from  what 
seemed  a  needless  exaction  on  the  part  of  the  authori- 
ties of  the  university  would  have  arisen.    The  require- 


242      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ment  that  all  classes  should  drill  was  lessened,  military 
exercises  on  the  part  of  the  upper  classes  being  re- 
duced in  number,  or  made  voluntary  in  the  case  of 
officers,  for  which  credit  was  given  as  for  other  uni- 
versity work.  Drill  was  finally  required  only  of  the 
members  of  the  freshman  and  sophomore  classes  dur- 
ing the  fall  and  spring  terms.  The  habitual  wearing 
of  the  university  uniform  was  dispensed  with,  and  mil- 
itary costume  was  only  required  during  the  actual  ex- 
ercises of  the  student. 

One  feature  of  the  original  report  of  Major  Whit- 
tlesey is  still  carried  out.  The  names  of  students  who 
have  shown  special  aptitude  for  military  service  are 
reported  to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army,  and  to 
the  adjutant-general  of  the  state  of  New  York,  and 
the  names  of  the  three  most  distinguished  students  in 
military  science  and  tactics  are,  when  graduated,  in- 
serted in  the  United  States  Army  Register  and  pub- 
lished in  general  orders  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
army.  Such  students  are,  under  certain  circumstances, 
allowed  to  present  themselves  for  examination  as 
commissioned  officers  in  the  United  States  Army, 
an  opportunity  of  which  several  have  availed  them- 
selves. 

In  1876,  drill  and  military  science,  which  had 
hitherto  been  required  of  all  students  in  the  university 
during  the  first  and  third  terms  of  the  first  three  years, 
and  during  the  second  term  of  the  fourth  year,  were 
practically  made  elective,  and  students  were  permitted 
to  present  a  substitute  for  these  subjects  in  any  other 
university  work.  It  was  also  provided  that  credit  for 
drill  and  military  science  should  be  reported  to  the 
registrar,  and  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  required  work 
of  the  student  for  graduation,  like  any  other  university 
work.  In  1897  military  drill  was  limited  to  the  fresh- 
man and  sophomore  classes.     This  requirement  con- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      243 

tinned  until  the  year  1902,  when  drill  was  required  of 
the  freshman  class  alone.  While  drill  was  not  in  gen- 
eral regarded  as  irksome,  it  became  a  serious  burden 
to  students  in  the  laboratories  and  shops,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  technical  courses  where  the  prescribed  cur- 
riculum lays  absolute  control  upon  the  student's  time. 

In  the  reorganization  of  the  army,  which  took  place 
under  the  direction  of  the  secretary  of  war,  the 
Hon.  Elihu  Root — a  reorganization  more  vital  and 
far-reaching  to  the  military  system  of  the  country  than 
any  before  undertaken, — the  system  of  instruction  in 
the  educational  institutions  to  which  a  detail  of  the 
officers  of  the  army  was  permitted,  was  made.  By  an 
order  issued  on  April  6,  1904,  the  various  colleges  and 
universities  to  which  a  professor  of  military  science 
might  be  detailed  were  divided  into  three  classes.  Col- 
leges established  under  the  Land  Grant  Act  of  1872 
were  included  in  the  second  class.  It  was  provided 
that  ^ '  no  officer  who  has  not  had  five  years '  service  as 
such,  nor  any  officer  not  of  the  line  of  the  army,  shall 
be  eligible  for  detail  as  professor  of  military  science 
and  tactics,  nor  shall  any  officer  above  the  grade  of 
lieutenant  be  so  detailed  so  long  as  there  are  eligible 
lieutenants  available,  nor  shall  any  officer  on  the  re- 
tired list  of  the  army  be  detailed  if  any  eligible  officer 
on  the  active  list  be  available." 

In  order  that  a  detail  might  be  made  it  was  provided 
that  a  lieutenant  should  have  graduated  from  one  of 
the  service  schools,  and  been  recommended  by  his  regi- 
mental commander.  His  record  as  a  student  in  the 
officers'  post  school,  and  his  military  deportment  and 
performance  of  duty,  had  to  be  creditable  in  a  marked 
degree.  Officers  detailed  as  professors  of  military 
science  and  tactics  were  required  to  report  in  writing 
to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army  as  to  the  exact 
compliance  by  the  school  authorities  with  the  require- 


244      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ments  of  the  regulations  prescribed  by  the  secretary  of 
war. 

The  instruction  required  is  as  follows : 

(a)  Practical: 

Infantry  drill  regulations,  through  the  school  of  the 
battalion  in  close  and  extended  order;  advance  and 
rear  guards,  and  outposts ;  marches ;  the  ceremonies  of 
battalion  review,  inspection,  parades,  guard  mounting, 
and  escort  of  the  colors ;  infantry  target  practice ;  in- 
struction in  first  aid  to  the  injured. 

Target  practice  on  the  range  should  be  preceded  by 
instruction  in  gallery  practice,  and  at  those  institutions 
where  range  practice  cannot  be  had  every  effort  must 
be  made  to  substitute  gallery  practice  for  it. 

(b)  Theoretical: 

The  infantry  drill  regulations  covered  by  the  prac- 
tical instruction;  the  manual  of  guard  duty;  small- 
arms  firing  regulations;  certain  articles  of  war;  one 
lecture  on  camps  and  camp  hygiene ;  and  the  following 
records:  Enlistment  and  discharge  papers,  including 
descriptive  lists,  morning  reports,  field  and  monthly 
returns,  muster  rolls,  rosters,  ration  returns,  requisi- 
tions and  property  returns,  lectures  on  the  organization 
of  the  United  States  Army,  including  volunteers  and 
militia,  on  patrols  and  outposts,  on  marches,  on  camps 
and  camp  hygiene,  on  lines  and  bases  of  operations,  on 
the  attack  and  defense  of  advance  and  rear  guards  and 
outposts,  and  convoys. 

It  was  also  provided  that  field  pieces  of  artillery, 
with  their  carriages  and  equipment,  also  Springfield 
cadet  rifles  and  accouterments  consisting  of  officers' 
swords,  cavalry  sabers  and  belts,  and  requisite  ammu- 
nition, might  be  issued. 

It  is  apparent  from  these  requirements  that  in  order 
for  the  university  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  this  detail, 
and  in  effect  to  comply  with  the  law  of  Congress,  ad- 


Enu^V  H  B.EaU's  Sojis.  Uew  "SSA 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      245 

ditional  provision  will  have  to  be  made  for  military  in- 
struction in  the  university,  and  with  that  object  in 
view,  the  courses  of  instruction  will  have  to  be  ar- 
ranged to  afford  opportunity  for  the  requirements  of 
the  national  government.  For  the  first  year,  a  relaxa- 
tion of  this  order  has  been  permitted,  as  the  courses 
of  study  had  already  been  arranged,  and  a  subsequent 
readjustment  was  impossible. 

The  influence  of  the  gallant  officers  who  have  been 
detailed  by  the  government  as  professors  of  military 
science  in  this  university  has  been  in  the  highest  de- 
gree beneficial.  Their  distinguished  character  and 
ability,  and  especially  their  bearing,  their  fidelity  to 
duty,  the  lessons  of  dignity,  order,  and  obedience  which 
they  have  instinctively  taught  and  enforced,  have  been 
an  important  element  in  the  government  of  the  uni- 
versity and  in  the  morale  of  students.  Many  of  these 
officers  have,  in  addition  to  military  drill  and  instruc- 
tion in  tactics,  given  interesting  courses  of  lectures 
upon  the  great  military  campaigns  of  history  and  the 
strategy  of  leading  commanders.  It  would  seem  as 
though  it  were  possible  to  establish  a  course  of  pro- 
fessional training  in  military  science  and  the  art  of 
war,  which  should  extend  for  advanced  students 
through  the  senior  year.  Such  a  course  would  thus 
become  a  professional  course,  like  that  of  law  or  medi- 
cine or  engineering.  It  would  open  a  career  in  the 
army  to  those  students  who  elected  it. 

An  interesting  course  of  lectures  upon  military  his- 
tory would  form  a  valuable  adjunct  to  many  historical 
courses,  and  thus  introduce  an  attractive  feature,  both 
in  the  historical  courses  and  in  the  department  of  mili- 
tary instruction. 

The  university  contributed  to  the  United  States 
army  and  navy  in  the  Spanish- American  War  three 
former  commandants,  two  professors,  125  graduates. 


246      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  40  undergraduates,  making  a  total  of  170,  a  list 
of  whom  is  given  in  the  appendix.  There  were  106 
officers;  of  these  87  were  commissioned  officers,  besides 
numerous  warrant  officers,  as  electricians,  first-class 
machiaists  and  others,  detailed  for  staff  and  special 
service. 

The  relation  which  the  department  of  military  in- 
struction sustains  to  the  war  department  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  ten  graduates  of  the  university,  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  study  of  military 
science  and  tactics,  and  by  practical  work  in  the  school 
of  the  soldier,  have  passed  successfully  the  examina- 
tion for  a  commission  in  the  regular  army,  and  have 
received  appointments  to  the  same.    Among  these  are : 

Frank  A.  Barton,  M.  E.,  1891 ;  Second  Lieutenant  of 
the  Twenty-fourth  Infantry  (1891),  transferred  to  the 
Tenth  Cavalry  (1892),  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Third 
Cavalry  (1898),  Captain  in  the  Third  Cavalry  (1901), 
and  Military  Commandant  in  command  at  Cornell 
University  (1904). 

Joseph  W.  Beacham,  Jr.,  LL.  B.,  1897 ;  Private  and 
Sergeant  in  the  Astor  Battery  (1898),  Second  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  First  Infantry  (1899),  First  Lieutenant  in 
the  Twentieth  Infantry  (1901). 

Edward  Davis,  LL.  B.,  1896;  Second  Lieutenant  in 
the  First  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry 
(1898),  Captain  in  the  Thirty-third  United  States  Vol- 
unteer Infantry  (1899),  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Eleventh  Cavalry  (1901). 

William  R.  Doores,  C.  E.,  1893;  Second  Lieutenant 
in  the  Fifth  Artillery  (1898),  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Artillery  Corps  (1901),  Captain  in  the  Artillery  Corps 
(1903). 

William  R.  Eastman,  Ph.  B.,  1895;  Assistant  Sur- 
geon with  the  rank  of  First  Lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  Army  (1901). 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      247 


Jesse  R.  Harris,  A.  B.,  1902;  Assistant  Surgeon  with 
the  rank  of  First  Lieutenant  in  the  United  States 
Army  (1902). 

Louis  H.  Kilbourne,  LL.  B.,  1895,  LL.  M.,  1897;  Ser- 
geant, Company  K,  in  the  Fifth  Pennsylvania  Volun- 
teer Infantry  (1898),  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Eighth 
Cavalry  (1901). 

Stephen  H.  Mould,  B.  L.,  1890;  First  Lieutenant  in 
the  Two  Hundred  and  Third  Regiment  of  New  York 
Volunteer  Infantry  (1898),  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Forty-fourth  Regiment  of  the  United  States  Volun- 
teer Infantry  (1899),  First  Lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  Artillery  Corps  (1901). 

Frederick  W.  Phisterer,  M.  E.,  1895,  M.  M.  E.,  1896, 
D.  Sc,  1897 ;  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  First  Artillery 
(1898),  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Artillery  Corps  (1901), 
Captain  in  the  Artillery  Corps  (1902). 

Ervin  Louis  Phillips,  A.  B.,  1891;  Second  Lieutenant 
in  the  Sixth  Cavalry  (1891),  First  Lieutenant  in  the 
Third  Cavalry  (1898),  Captain  in  the  Thirteenth 
Cavalry  (1901). 


CHAPTER  XVI 


MANUAL    LABOR 


ONE  favorite  theory  of  Mr.  Cornell,  which  was 
I  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  uni- 
'  versity,  was  that  of  manual  labor,  by  which 
students  during  their  studies  could  support 
themselves  by  working  from  three  to  four  hours  per 
day.  He  believed  that  the  activity  which  is  usually 
devoted  to  recreation  and  athletic  pursuits  might  be 
directed  to  some  systematic  employment,  that  stu- 
dents who  possessed  skill  in  some  trade  would  be  able 
to  find  occupation  as  mechanics  and  laborers  upon  the 
farm,  and  that  the  agricultural  and  mechanical  depart- 
ments would  furnish  opportunity  for  unskilled  stu- 
dents to  acquire  a  proficiency  in  some  craft,  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's views  were  stated  very  clearly  in  a  letter  of 
August  10,  1868,  to  the  New  York  Tribune : 

' '  The  numerous  appeals  which  I  am  receiving  from 
young  men  for  assistance  to  enable  them  to  pay  their 
way  while  obtaining  an  education  at  the  Cornell  Uni- 
versity impel  me  to  reply  through  the  Tribune.  I 
would  inform  all  who  may  desire  the  information  that, 
in  organizing  the  university,  the  trustees  aimed  to 
arrange  a  system  of  manual  labor  which,  while  it  would 
be  compulsory  upon  none,  would  furnish  all  the  stu- 
dents of  the  university  with  the  opportunity  to  de- 
velop their  physical  strength  and  vigor  by  labor,  the 
fair  compensation  for  which  would  pay  the  expenses 
of  their  education.  Students  will  be  employed  in  cul- 
tivating and  raising,  on  a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres, 
the  various  productions  best  suited  to  furnish  the  col- 

248 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      249 

lege  tables.  These  will  include  live  stock  for  produc- 
ing milk,  butter,  and  cheese,  and  to  be  killed  for  meat ; 
grain  for  bread,  and  vegetables  and  fruits  of  all  kinds 
suited  to  the  climate  and  soil. 

"  Mechanical  employment  will  be  given  to  all  in  the 
machine  shop  of  the  university.  This  will  be  equipped 
with  an  engine  of  twenty-five  horse-power,  lathes,  plan- 
ing-machines  for  iron  and  wood,  and  all  the  most  im- 
proved implements  and  tools  for  working  in  iron  and 
wood.  Here  they  will  manufacture  tools,  machinery, 
models,  patterns,  etc.  The  erection  of  the  additional 
buildings  required  for  the  university  will  furnish  em- 
ployment for  years  to  students  in  need  of  it.  There 
will  also  be  employment  in  laying  out,  grading,  road- 
making,  and  improving  and  beautifying  the  farm  and 
grounds  of  the  university.  The  work  done  by  students 
will  be  paid  for  at  the  current  rates  paid  elsewhere  for 
like  services.  The  work  will  be  done  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  professors  and  competent  superintend- 
ents and  foremen.  It  will  be  the  constant  aim  of  the 
trustees  and  faculty  of  the  university  to  render  it  as 
attractive  and  instructive  as  possible,  and  especially  to 
make  it  conducive  to  the  health,  growth,  and  physical 
vigor  of  the  students,  besides  affording  them  the  means 
of  self-support  and  independence,  while  receiving  all 
the  advantages  of  the  university. 

'^  With  such  combined  facilities  for  instruction  and 
maintenance,  all  the  expenses  of  a  first-class  faculty 
and  of  tuition  being  paid  by  the  endowment,  I  trust 
that  no  person  who  earnestly  desires  to  be  thoroughly 
educated  will  find  difficulty  in  becoming  so  by  his  own 
exertions  at  the  Cornell  University. 

''  We  already  have  students  who  entered  three 
months  in  advance  of  the  opening  of  the  university,  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  earn  two  dollars 
per  day  through  haying  and  harvest,  and  thus  make 


250      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

a  sure  thing  of  it.  Such  boys  will  get  an  education, 
and  will  make  their  mark  in  the  world  in  the  use  of  it. 

"  In  conclusion,  I  will  assure  the  boys  that  if  they 
will  perform  one-fourth  as  much  labor  as  I  did  at  their 
ages,  or  as  I  do  now  at  sixty  years  of  age,  they  will 
find  no  difficulty  in  paying  their  expenses  while  prose- 
cuting their  studies  at  Ithaca. ' ' 

When  Mr.  Cornell  visited  Yale,  and  saw  the  students 
perform  in  the  gymnasium,  he  expressed  himself  very 
decidedly  on  this  matter.  Here,  he  said,  were  healthy 
young  men  driven  to  resort  to  the  artificial  exercise 
of  the  muscles  for  their  health,  and  as  a  relief  from 
study.  He  would  provide  means  to  turn  that  muscular 
exercise  to  better  advantage.  Instead  of  "  climbing 
ropes  like  monkeys  in  a  cage,"  he  would  furnish  the 
young  men  with  means  and  incentives  to  exercise  their 
muscles  in  useful  work.  They  would  rest  their  brains 
from  study  of  books  by  turning  their  minds  toward 
something  else. 

A  circular  of  those  early  days  states : 

*'  Possible  Earnings   of   Students   in   the   Voluntary 
Labor  Corps,  etc. 

^^  At  the  beginning  of  instruction  on  the  last  Wed- 
nesday in  September  there  will  be  enrolled  '  Volun- 
tary Labor  Corps  '  for  different  kinds  of  work,  to  be 
done  under  the  direction  of  the  professors  of  agricul- 
ture, mechanic  arts,  civil  engineering,  etc. 

''  A  large  force  of  students  can  thus  be  employed 
upon  the  farm,  machine  shop,  and  in  work  upon  the 
grounds,  and  the  university  will  pay  students  the  same 
prices  which  it  would  have  to  pay  to  others  for  the 
same  work. 

''  The  time  given  each  day  by  each  member  of  the 
Voluntary  Labor  Corps  will  probably  average  from 
two  to  six  hours. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      251 

' '  In  addition  to  the  work  above  named  there  will  be 
needed  at  an  early  day  in  the  library,  laboratories,  etc., 
assistants  and  clerks  who  would  be  naturally  chosen 
from  among  students  in  good  standing." 

Upon  the  first  day  notice  was  read  in  front  of  Mor- 
rill Hall  that  all  students  who  desired  to  work  might 
report  the  following  morning  at  seven  o'clock  for 
labor  in  constructing  a  road  from  Morrill  Hall  (then 
called  the  University,  as  the  only  building  erected)  to 
Cascadilla  Place.  On  the  following  morning  an  army 
of  students  with  wheelbarrows  and  shovels  began  work 
upon  the  crest  of  the  hill  between  the  Psi  Upsilon  and 
Kappa  Alpha  chapter  houses,  and  before  night  some- 
thing that  looked  like  a  rough  opening  through  the 
thickets  extended  down  the  slope  to  the  creek.  Mr. 
Cornell  visited  the  scene  of  activity  and  laughed  heart- 
ily at  the  initial  success  of  his  effort  to  combine  a  lib- 
eral and  practical  education.  A  defective  photograph 
of  this  scene  is  still  preserved. 

Many  of  our  most  distinguished  alumni  contributed 
to  their  support  by  availing  themselves  of  the  facilities 
which  the  university  offered  in  those  early  days.  The 
president  of  a  great  university  upon  the  Pacific  Coast, 
a  former  member  of  Congress  from  New  York  and  now 
a  prominent  lawyer  in  that  city,  a  distinguished  li- 
brarian, the  president  of  a  great  New  York  State  bank, 
all  contributed  in  some  way  or  other  to  their  support. 
One  was  a  mason,  another  a  carpenter,  a  third  set  type 
in  the  university  printing-office,  and  a  fourth  waited 
at  table.  Some  drove  carts  upon  the  university 
grounds,  others  had  their  first  lessons  in  laboring  by 
contributions  to  the  local  papers.  There  was  an  en- 
thusiasm for  work.  To  belong  to  the  labor  corps  was 
a  badge  of  honor. 

A  prominent  architect  in  New  York,  writing  the 


252      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

present  year,  said:  '^  I  organized  the  working  depart- 
ment of  the  students  in  Cornell,  especially  those  of  the 
carpentry  department,  in  company  with  C.  C.  King, 
D.  W.  King,  S.  E.  Todd,  and  Mr.  Hyde.  We  started 
in  an  old  carriage  house  that  stood  out  on  the  campus 
between  the  old  chemical  building  and  President 
White's  residence.  Mr.  Cornell  visited  our  shop  and 
offered  to  put  up  a  building  for  our  special  use.  I 
consulted  with  him  as  to  the  form  and  size  of  the  same, 
which  resulted  in  the  building  of  a  large  frame  structure 
on  the  bank  of  Fall  Creek,  just  back  of  Sibley  College. 
It  was  there  that  some  twenty-odd  students  earned  the 
money  to  pay  their  way  through  college  under  my  care. 
My  mind  is  crowded  with  pleasant  recollections  of 
those  days,  filled  with  mental  and  physical  labor. ' ' 

No  purpose  lay  nearer  to  Mr.  Cornell's  heart  in 
founding  the  university  than  this,  viz.,  that  poor  boys 
and  girls  might,  by  devoting  a  somewhat  longer  period 
to  their  course  of  study,  support  themselves,  and 
graduate,  possessed  of  an  education  and  of  some  trade 
or  profession  which  would  secure  their  future  support. 
The  remembrance  of  his  own  early  struggles  with 
limited  opportunities  gave  a  tender  feeling  to  him  re- 
garding all  young  men  similarly  situated.  He  gave 
much  thought  not  only  to  systematizing  the  opportu- 
nities for  work  upon  the  university  buildings  and  the 
university  grounds,  but  also  to  introducing  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  university  new  and  profitable  industries, 
which  should  be  operated  in  connection  with  it.  He 
loved  his  native  city ;  he  desired  its  prosperity ;  he  was 
willing  to  use  his  large  resources  to  build  up  industries 
which  should  add  to  its  wealth ;  but  most  of  all,  during 
the  last  years  of  his  life,  he  loved  the  university  which 
bore  his  name  and  which  was  destined,  as  he  fondly 
hoped,  to  be  the  most  practical  means  of  blessing  his 
fellow-men.     In  those  early  days,  many  students  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      253 

very  limited  means  flocked  to  the  university  with  the 
anticipation  that  their  support  would  be  secured  by 
scholarships,  and  that  they  would  be  enabled,  by  extra 
labor,  to  obtain  whatever  else  might  be  necessary  to 
acquire  an  education.  The  labor  of  janitors  in  the  care 
of  the  university  buildings,  of  assistants  in  the  mu- 
seums and  libraries,  of  workmen  on  the  university 
grounds,  was  to  be  given  to  students.  Mr.  Cornell 
hoped  much  from  the  establishment  of  the  University 
Press,  by  which  students  might  learn  the  printer's 
trade,  and  which  would  afford  means  for  the  issue  of 
university  publications.  It  is  probable  that  Mr.  White, 
while  sympathizing  with  these  views,  did  not  have 
equal  hopes  of  the  success  of  this  experiment.  The 
most  useful  labor,  he  believed,  would  be  of  a  scientific 
character,  by  which  the  student  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  mechanical  processes.  There  are  two  problems  in- 
timately associated  with  a  plan  like  that  proposed. 
The  first  and  most  important  one  is  whether  a  student 
is  able,  in  connection  with  his  university  work,  to  carry 
on  an  additional  daily  task  sufficient  for  his  support. 
The  feature  of  teaching  during  the  winter  in  country 
schools,  which  existed  in  New  England  colleges,  facility 
for  which  was  afforded  by  a  long  vacation,  was  here 
to  be  made  continuous.  Work  was  to  be  carried  on  in- 
cessantly and  in  connection  with  study,  and  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arose,  how  far  the  physical  health  would 
be  sufficient  to  meet  this  double  demand ;  how  far  study 
could  be  profitable  when  the  strength  upon  which  it 
depended  for  success  was  equally  devoted  to  mechan- 
ical pursuits.  The  second  and  more  practical  question 
was,  how  far  it  was  possible  to  prosecute  any  industry 
profitably  while  relying  upon  student  labor,  which  must 
necessarily  be  afforded  in  limited  amount,  and  at  in- 
tervals accommodated  to  the  intellectual  work  of  the 
student.     If  the  opportunity  for  manual  labor  was  fur- 


254     CORNELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTOEY 

nished  at  a  pecuniary  loss,  and  at  the  possible  sacri- 
fice of  the  physical  health  of  the  student,  why  not  make 
it  a  gift  outright?  These  two  factors  have  practically 
decided  the  possibility  of  success  in  this  experiment. 
Competition  is  so  keen,  even  with  skilled  labor,  work- 
ing with  the  entire  time  and  under  the  most  favorable 
opportunities  on  the  part  of  the  operative,  that,  when 
brought  into  comparison  with  work  relying  upon  labor 
at  irregular  intervals,  the  latter  must  necessarily 
suffer  defeat,  from  the  standpoint  of  mere  business 
success.  Looking  back  upon  those  early  years,  we  see 
that  many  students  who  belonged  to  the  labor  corps, 
as  it  was  called,  were  successful  to  an  eminent  degree 
in  maintaining  themselves  during  their  university  life, 
and  in  attaining  a  distinguished  rank  among  their  fel- 
low-students. It  would  be  possible  to  enumerate  many 
now  occupying  leading  positions  in  the  educational  and 
scientific  world,  whose  education  was  obtained  by 
heroic  sacrifice,  by  willing  limitation  of  pleasure,  and 
by  lofty  devotion  to  an  ideal  of  learning.  But,  as  a 
rule,  we  must  confess  that  the  limitations  inherent  in 
the  system  itself  have  been  too  great  to  be  set  aside. 
Many  students  who  came  here  with  exaggerated  hopes 
of  maintaining  themselves  were  disappointed.  The 
amount  of  work  which  the  university  could  furnish, 
even  at  a  loss,  was  not  sufficient  to  support  all  students 
who  came  relying  upon  it.  The  plan,  too,  gave  the  im- 
pression that  self-support,  so  far  from  being  an  inci- 
dent in  the  university  life,  constituted  an  essential 
feature ;  and  for  many  years,  in  spite  of  specific  state- 
ments sent  out  calculated  to  avoid  holding  out  undue 
hopes,  the  impression  prevailed  in  educational  circles 
throughout  the  country  that  the  university  was,  in 
large  part,  a  manual-labor  or  trade  school. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


CO-EDUCATION 


IT  was  a  part  of  Mr.  Cornell's  original  plan  that 
the  university  should  be  open  for  the  instruction 
of  both  young  men  and  women.  It  was  in  accord- 
ance with  his  natural  training  and  mode  of 
thought ;  he  was  of  Quaker  ancestry,  and  was  familiar 
with  the  traditions  of  that  body,  in  which  an  equal 
prominence  is  given  to  women  in  public  meetings.  To 
the  eloquence  and  pure  moral  sense  of  women  who  have 
advocated  moral  reform,  education,  and  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  the  advance  of  our  country  has  been  largely 
due.  It  was  therefore  natural  that,  in  any  conception 
of  the  university,  he  should  include  co-education  of  the 
sexes.  In  a  letter  written  from  Albany  to  his  only 
granddaughter,  February  17,  1867,  nearly  two  years 
before  the  opening  of  the  university,  he  said :  ' '  I  want 
to  have  girls  educated  in  the  university,  as  well  as  boys, 
so  that  they  may  have  the  same  opportunity  to  become 
wise  and  useful  to  society  that  the  boys  have."  He 
even  asked  that  his  letter  might  be  preserved,  so  as  to 
show  to  the  university  authorities  in  the  future  what 
his  wishes  were.  In  his  address  at  the  opening  of  the 
university  he  had  distinctly  stated:  ''  I  believe  we 
have  made  the  beginning  of  an  institution  which  will 
prove  highly  beneficial  to  the  poor  young  men  and  poor 
young  women  of  our  country." 

Mr.  Cornell  paid  a  beautiful  tribute  to  his  wife  and 
to  her  share  in  the  foundation  of  the  university,  in  a 
letter  from  Washington,  January  16,  1869 : 

*'  .    .    .    Those  trials  and  privations  are  past,  and 

255 


256     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

yet  they  are  pleasant  and  profitable  to  look  upon. 
Honors,  cheaply  won,  are  lightly  esteemed.  Our 
honors  are  the  price  of  long  years  of  toil,  patient,  per- 
sistent labor,  scanty  means,  long  absence  from  home 
and  each  other's  society,  anxious  cares  and  perplex- 
ities such  as  swamp  many  stout  hearts  and  send  them 
wrecked  down  the  stream  of  time  to  the  ocean  of 
oblivion.  Happily,  we  have  reached  a  nobler  goal. 
Your  trials  have  triumphed,  and  you  now  hold  a  posi- 
tion envied  by  those  whom  you  once  regarded  as  the 
most  favored  among  women. 

' '  To  pass  by  minor  honors,  the  one  of  being  the  wife 
of  the  founder  of  the  Cornell  University,  and  the  wife 
to  whose  efforts  and  privations  and  struggles  that  in- 
stitution owes  its  existence,  as  much  as  to  the  founder 
himself  (for  I  freely  acknowledge  that  without  your 
assistance  at  home  I  could  never  have  accomplished 
the  successes  which  have  culminated  in  the  university), 
is  an  honor  higher  and  nobler  than  falls  to  the  lot  of 
many  women.  I  hope  that  a  still  higher  honor  awaits 
my  dear  wife. 

"  The  honor  of  founding  a  system  of  industry  by 
which  girls  holding  the  same  position  in  society  that 
you  did  at  the  period  of  our  marriage,  may,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  three  or  four  hours  of  their  time  each  day, 
provide  the  means  for  procuring  the  highest  and  most 
useful  education.  The  need  of  such  an  industry  is 
becoming  daily  more  and  more  apparent,  and  it  is  sure 
ere  long  to  be  worked  out,  and  nowhere  can  it  be  more 
easily  done  than  in  connection  with  the  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. And  no  woman  or  man  will  in  future  receive 
nobler  and  more  lasting,  or  better  deserved  honors, 
than  will  she  or  he  who  organizes  such  an  industry. 
That  my  wife  may  be  the  great  benefactor  of  her  sex 
in  this  reform  is  an  ambition  that  I  dearly  cherish, 

"  The  glory  of  woman's  suffrage  will  pale  before 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      257 

the  brighter  rays  that  will  flash  from  the  sun  of 
woman's  self-reliant  and  independent  action  in  pro- 
viding for  her  greatest  needs.  Your  practical  and 
well-organized  mind  directed  in  this  channel  cannot 
fail  to  arrive  at  conclusions  that  will  lead  to  success. 
I  shall  be  happy  to  contribute  my  mite  in  such  a  noble 
work. ' ' 

It  is  easy  to  see  whence  Mr.  Cornell  derived  his  faith 
in  woman,  and  how  naturally,  and  as  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude to  his  wife,  he  sought  to  provide  facilities  for  the 
higher  education  of  woman.  All  Mr.  Cornell's  letters 
to  his  wife  bear  witness  to  the  perfect  confidence  which 
existed  between  them,  and  contain  a  revelation  of  his 
lofty  ideal  not  often  shown  in  familiar  correspondence. 
Thus,  in  a  letter  from  Albany,  written  August  4,  1866, 
he  says : 

'*  .  .  .  I  now  feel,  for  the  first  time,  that  the  des- 
tiny of  the  Cornell  University  is  fixed,  and  that  its  ulti- 
mate endowment  would  be  ample  for  the  vast  field  of 
labor  it  embraces,  and  if  properly  organized  for  the 
development  of  truth,  industry,  and  frugality,  it  will 
become  a  power  in  the  land  which  will  control  and 
mould  the  future  of  this  great  state,  and  carry  it  on- 
ward and  upward  in  its  industrial  development,  and 
support  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  its  guaranty 
of  equal  rights  and  equal  laws  to  all  men." 

President  White  in  his  inaugural  address  met  the 
question  with  great  frankness,  when  he  said:  "  As  to 
the  question  of  sex,  I  have  little  doubt  that  within  a 
very  few  years  the  experiment  desired  will  be  tried  in 
some  of  our  largest  universities.  There  are  many 
reasons  for  expecting  its  success.  It  has  succeeded 
not  only  in  the  common  schools,  but,  what  is  much 
more  to  the  point,  in  the  normal  schools  and  academies 
of  the  state.  It  has  succeeded  so  far  in  some  of  the 
lecture  rooms  in  some  of  our  leading  colleges  that  it 


258     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

is  very  diflScult  to  see  why  it  should  not  succeed  in  all 
their  lecture  rooms;  and  if  the  experiment  succeeds 
as  regards  lectures,  it  is  very  difficult  to  see  why  it 
should  not  succeed  as  regards  recitations.  Speaking 
entirely  for  myself,  I  would  say  that  I  am  perfectly 
willing  to  undertake  the  experiment  as  soon  as  it  shall 
be  possible  to  do  so,  but  no  fair-minded  man  or  woman 
can  ask  us  to  undertake  it  now,  as  it  is  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  we  are  ready  to  receive  young  men.  It 
has  cost  years  of  hard  thought  and  labor  to  get  ready 
to  carry  out  the  first  intentions  of  the  national  and 
state  authorities  which  had  reference  to  young  men. 
I  trust  the  time  will  soon  come  when  we  can  do  more. ' ' 
At  the  opening  of  the  university,  co-education  had 
already  received  a  successful  trial  of  more  than  thirty 
years  in  Oberlin  by  the  noble  and  devoted  citizens  of 
New  England  who  settled  the  Western  Reserve  in  Ohio. 
Horace  Mann  and  his  equally  enthusiastic  supporters 
had  set  on  foot  a  similar  experiment  in  1853.  Mr. 
Mann  had  declined  the  nomination  to  be  governor  of 
Massachusetts  in  order  to  accept  the  presidency  of 
Antioch  College,  and  to  pass  through  the  pathetic 
struggles  which  accompanied  the  foundation  of  that 
institution.  Other  institutions  in  the  East  had  adopted 
the  Oberlin  plan,  but  the  movement  had  occurred  on  so 
small  a  scale  that  its  presence  as  a  decisive  factor  in 
educational  life  had  not  been  widely  felt.  Michigan, 
which  possessed  the  largest  state  university,  had  felt 
the  powerful  demand  among  the  people,  and  even  in 
the  legislature,  for  the  admission  of  women.  In  the 
years  1867  and  1868  the  legislature  passed  recom- 
mendations urging  the  Regents  to  admit  women  to  all 
the  facilities  of  instruction  in  the  state  university. 
President  White,  while  accepting  theoretically  the  jus- 
tice of  the  demand  for  the  higher  education  of  women, 
felt  the  limitations,  both  financial  and  otherwise,  which 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      259 

would  make  immediate  favorable  action  in  that  direc- 
tion impossible.  In  the  interval  a  vigorous  aggressive 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  advocates  of  female  suf- 
frage, who  saw,  in  the  higher  education  of  woman,  a 
step  toward  her  wider  participation  in  public  life, 
began,  and  pressure,  personal  as  well  as  public,  was 
exerted  to  use  the  university  as  an  instrument  to  pro- 
mote these  views.  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony  visited  the 
university  and  consulted  with  Mr.  Cornell.  She  after- 
ward wrote:  *' I  visited  Cascadilla,  smelt  tobacco 
smoke,  and  saw  that  ladies  were  needed  there."  She 
advised  the  engagement  of  a  woman  housekeeper  to 
teach  culinary  branches. 

Early  in  the  year  1869,  an  organized  campaign  was 
begun  to  secure  the  admission  of  women  to  the  univer- 
sity. On  March  27  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony  deliv- 
ered an  address  in  Library  Hall  as  the  opening  note 
of  this  movement.  In  order  to  storm  the  citadel  in  the 
initial  attack,  Mr.  Cornell  was  invited  to  conduct  Miss 
Anthony  to  the  platform  and  to  introduce  her  to  the 
audience.  In  presenting  her,  he  stated  that  he  had 
supposed  that  she  would  have  had  independence 
enough  to  take  the  stand  alone  and  introduce  herself. 
He  was  willing  to  accompany  her,  but  opposed  to  the 
surrender  of  all  his  masculine  rights.  Miss  Anthony 
stated  that  the  day  in  which  the  constitution  of  the 
university  should  be  amended  so  that  women  might  be 
admitted  to  all  its  benefits  and  privileges,  on  the  same 
terms  as  men,  would  be  celebrated  hereafter  as 
sacredly  as  the  Fourth  of  July  or  the  day  of  the  birth 
of  Jesus  Christ.  At  the  conclusion  of  Miss  Anthony's 
address,  Mr.  Cornell,  in  obedience  to  a  call  from  the 
audience  and  at  the  command  of  Miss  Anthony,  in- 
formed her,  whom  he  characterized  as  the  "^  ungentle 
advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  gentle  sex, ' '  that  any  lady 
passing    the    competitive    examinations    for    a    state 


260     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

scholarship  could  enter  the  university,  and  that  he 
should  answer  all  such  inquiries  in  the  affirmative. 
Many  of  the  best  friends  of  the  university  hesitated  to 
commit  the  university  at  that  time  to  this  movement. 

Mr.  Groldwin  Smith,  in  an  address  before  the  Social 
Science  Convention  in  Albany,  delivered  February  17, 
1869,  expressed  the  view  that  everything  affecting  the 
relative  position  of  the  sexes  was  of  the  gravest  im- 
portance; he  therefore  hoped  that  experiments  would 
be  made  cautiously,  and  not  on  too  extensive  a  scale. 
He  was  decidedly  opposed  to  subjecting  women  to  com- 
petitive examinations. 

On  June  5, 1871,  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage  wrote  to  Presi- 
dent White :  ' '  I  will  be  present  at  Ithaca  from  the 
20th  to  the  22d  instant,  if  alive  and  well.  While  at 
Ithaca,  if  we  have  the  time,  I  want  to  talk  with  you 
about  a  place  for  the  education  of  women,  under  the 
wing  of  Cornell." 

Miss  Catherine  E.  Beecher,  a  prominent  advocate  of 
the  higher  education  of  woman  and  the  sister  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  wrote  to  President  White,  August  11, 
1871: 

''  We  believe  that  large  funds  are  at  our  command, 
but  we  are  at  a  stand  on  these  questions.  Shall  the 
higher  department  of  woman's  education  be  attempted 
in  men's  colleges,  or  shall  endowed  institutions  be  pro- 
vided for  women  alone,  or  shall  there  be  endowed  in- 
stitutions for  the  highest  and  equal  training  of  both 
sexes, — in  certain  departments  separate  and  in  others 
united, — thus  promoting  economy  in  using  endow- 
ments, and  increased  social,  intellectual,  and  moral 
benefits?  Some  of  our  managers  favor  each  of  these 
methods,  while  for  myself  I  have  not  a  decided  opinion. 
I  feel,  rather,  that  it  is  a  subject  which  needs  first  thor- 
ough discussion,  and  next,  experimental  tests.  Sup- 
pose our  managers  have  half  a  million,  and  should 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      261 

establish,  in  close  vicinity  to  your  university  and  com- 
munity, a  university  in  which  all  the  teachers  and 
pupils  are  in  families  of  from  ten  to  fifteen,  all  engaged 
in  domestic  employment  part  of  each  day,  and  at  other 
hours  in  study." 

Upon  the  day  on  which  the  university  was  formally 
opened,  the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage  went  to  President 
White  and  said :  * '  When  you  are  ready  to  carry  out 
the  idea  of  educating  young  women  as  thoroughly  as 
young  men,  I  will  provide  the  endowment  to  enable 
you  to  do  so."  With  Mr.  Sage,  the  higher  education 
of  women  had  become  a  thorough  conviction,  and  the 
wisdom  and  naturalness  of  educating  both  young  men 
and  women  in  the  same  institution  admitted  of  no  ques- 
tion. He  was  not  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  to  which  he  was  elected  two  years  later,  on 
June  30,  1870.  During  the  first  year  of  his  connection 
with  the  university  he  offered  to  erect  and  endow  a 
college  or  hall  for  the  residence  of  young  women,  and 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  held  in  Ithaca, 
June  21,  1871,  President  White,  in  presenting  his 
annual  report,  discussed  and  favored  the  admission  of 
women  to  the  university.  His  recommendations  were 
referred  to  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  White, 
Weaver,  Sage,  Andrews,  and  Finch.  The  formal 
report  of  this  committee  was  presented  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  which  was  held  in  Albany, 
February  13,  1872.  The  report  was  adopted  unani- 
mously, one  member  alone  withholding  his  vote.  The 
gift  of  Mr.  Sage  was  formally  accepted,  and  a  special 
committee  was  appointed  to  decide  upon  the  plans  for 
the  proposed  building.  On  October  9, 1871,  Miss  Emma 
Sheffield  Eastman,  a  student  of  Vassar  College,  ap- 
plied for  admission  to  the  university.  She  stands  at 
the  head  of  the  long  list  of  women  students  who  have 
since  studied  and  graduated  here.    Until  her  formal 


262      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

admission  she  attended,  by  the  consent  of  the  various 
professors,  their  lectures.  The  students,  who  saw  in 
this  enterprise  a  forerunner  of  woman's  emancipation 
in  education  in  the  university,  looked  with  cold  and 
averse  glance  at  this  reformer  of  educational  theories ; 
however,  she  was  later  formally  matriculated  as  a  stu- 
dent, although  Mrs.  Jennie  Spencer  had  presented  her- 
self as  early  as  in  September,  1870,  with  a  certificate 
entitling  her  to  a  state  scholarship,  and  passed  with 
credit  the  additional  examinations  required. 

The  committee  to  which  had  been  referred  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  question  visited  the  leading  institu- 
tions which  had  already  admitted  women  students. 
They  conducted  an  extended  correspondence  with  emi- 
nent educators,  seeking  to  obtain  their  views  upon  the 
principle  involved.  The  majority  of  the  responses  to 
the  committee  were  overwhelmingly  against  the  admis- 
sion of  women.  Some  regarded  it  as  contrary  to 
nature,  as  likely  to  produce  confusion,  dangerous,  at 
variance  with  the  ordinances  of  God;  on  the  other 
hand,  several  principals  of  normal  schools  reported  in 
favor  of  the  success  of  the  experiment  in  those  insti- 
tutions. The  testimony  was  most  positive  from  those 
who  had  seen  the  experiment  of  co-education  tried. 
Some  of  the  oldest  and  most  venerated  educators  of 
the  country,  men  whose  temper  would  cause  them  to 
be  ranked  with  conservative  educational  forces, 
favored  the  experiment.  President  Hopkins  of  Wil- 
liams College  believed  that  a  continuation  of  the  asso- 
ciation in  study  which  had  begun  in  the  common 
schools  would  present  many  advantages,  and  he  hoped 
that  the  experiment  would  be  tried.  President  Nott, 
in  a  letter  to  a  committee  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  had 
said :  "  I  would  like  to  see  the  experiment  tried  under 
proper  regulations,  and  were  I  at  the  head  of  the  uni- 
versity in  Michigan,  and  public  opinion  called  for  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      263 

trial  of  the  experiment,  I  should  not  oppose  obedience 
to  the  call.  Corporations  are  conservative;  it  is  their 
nature  not  to  lead,  but  to  follow  public  opinion,  and 
often  far  in  the  rear.  That  it  [co-education]  will  not 
be  approved  by  college  corporations  generally  may  be 
taken  for  granted."  The  testimony  was,  however,  de- 
cisive from  such  institutions  as  Oberlin,  the  State  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  the  Northwestern  University  at 
Evanston,  the  State  Industrial  University  in  Illinois, 
and  Antioch  College.  The  testimony  as  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  young  women  in  contributing  to  a  higher 
tone  in  university  life,  to  the  abolition  of  certain  rude- 
ness and  uncouthness  in  student  manners,  was  abun- 
dant and  conclusive. 

It  was  deemed  best  that  a  separate  home  on  the  uni- 
versity grounds  should  be  provided  for  the  young 
ladies,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  peculiar  fitness  in  con- 
necting the  departments  of  botany  and  horticulture 
with  it.  The  committee,  therefore,  recommended  that 
in  connection  with  the  new  college  there  should  be  asso- 
ciated a  botanical  lecture  room,  conservatory,  green- 
house, and  botanical  garden.  The  question  which  has 
been  variously  settled  in  different  colleges  for  women, 
whether  the  "  cottage  "  system,  by  which  separate 
attractive  homes  are  erected  upon  the  college  grounds 
for  a  limited  number  of  young  ladies,  or  the  system  by 
which  all  are  accommodated  in  one  large  building, 
should  be  adopted,  was  discussed.  It  was  decided  to 
erect  on  the  university  grounds  a  large  college  build- 
ing, complete  in  all  respects,  with  lecture  rooms,  special 
recitation  rooms,  infirmary,  gymnasium,  bathing 
rooms,  study,  and  lodging  rooms  for  from  150  to  200 
lady  students,  a  building  which  would  form  a  striking 
architectural  feature  in  connection  with  the  university. 
The  gift  of  Mr.  Sage  was  formally  accepted  under  the 
conditions  named  by  him,  and  the  establishment  created 


264     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

under  it  designated  as  the  Sage  College  of  Cornell 
University.  The  corner-stone  of  the  institution  was 
laid  on  March  15,  1873.  Among  those  who  partici- 
pated on  this  occasion  were  the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage, 
the  Hon.  Ezra  Cornell,  President  Angell  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  Chancellor  Winchell  of  Syracuse 
University,  Dr.  Moses  Coit  Tyler,  Professor  Groldwin 
Smith,  and  Col.  Homer  B.  Sprague,  who  had  been  the 
first  professor  of  rhetoric  and  oratory  in  the  univer- 
sity. The  address  of  the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage  is  note- 
worthy, as  it  illustrates  the  noble  purpose  which  he  had 
in  view  in  making  his  gift.  He  said :  ' '  We  meet  to-day 
upon  this  beautiful  hillside  to  inaugurate  an  enterprise 
which  cannot,  I  think,  but  have  an  important  influence 
upon  the  future  of  this  Commonwealth  and  of  our  race. 
It  has  been  wisely  said  that  '  who  educates  a  woman 
educates  a  generation,'  and  the  structure  which  is  to 
be  erected  over  this  corner-stone  will  be  especially  de- 
voted to  the  education  of  women,  and  will  carry  with 
it  a  pledge  of  all  the  power  and  resources  of  Cornell 
University,  to  provide  and  forever  maintain  facilities 
for  the  education  of  women  as  broadly  as  for  men." 
He  closed  with  the  words :  ' '  When  this  structure  shall 
be  completed  and  ready  for  its  use,  let  us  look  up  and 
forward  for  results ;  and  if  woman  be  true  to  herself, 
if  woman  be  true  to  woman,  and  both  be  true  to  God, 
there  ought  to  be  from  the  work  inaugurated  here  this 
day  an  outflow  which  shall  bless  and  elevate  all  man- 
kind." The  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Mrs.  Sage  with 
these  words : 

' '  I  lay  this  coruer-stone,  in  faith 
That  structure  fair  and  good 
Shall  from  it  rise,  and  thenceforth  come 
True  Christian  womanhood." 

Among  the  articles  deposited  beneath  the  corner- 
stone was  a  letter  addressed  by  Mr.  Cornell  to  the  com- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      265 

ing  man  and  woman,  the  contents  of  which  were  un- 
known save  to  the  author.  In  closing  his  remarks  he 
said :  ' '  The  letter,  of  which  I  have  kept  no  copy,  will 
relate  to  future  generations  the  cause  of  the  failure 
of  this  experiment,  if  it  ever  does  fail,  as  I  trust  in 
God  it  never  will."  The  mysterious  contents  of  this 
letter  are  reserved  for  the  information  of  some  distant 
generation.  The  college  was  formally  opened  for  the 
admission  of  women  at  the  opening  of  the  fall  term  of 
1874.  From  that  date  women  have  been  admitted 
freely  to  the  university.  They  have  attended  recita- 
tions and  lectures,  and  engaged  in  laboratory  work  in 
all  departments.  Some  have  entered  in  agriculture 
and  in  architecture,  and  one  or  more  even  in  mechan- 
ical engineering.  The  proportion  of  lady  students 
during  the  first  years  of  the  university  was  about  one- 
tenth  of  the  entire  number  of  students.  Since  then  it 
has  somewhat  increased.  The  character  of  the  scholar- 
ship which  they  have  sustained,  the  scientific  investi- 
gations which  have  been  embodied  in  the  theses  sub- 
mitted for  graduation,  and  the  high  merit  which  has 
attached  to  their  work  as  a  whole,  all  bear  witness  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  policy  by  which  young  women  were 
originally  admitted  to  the  university. 

The  proportion  of  women  to  men  in  the  College  of 
Arts  and  Sciences  has  remained  quite  uniform  for 
many  years,  the  percentage  being  between  thirty- three 
and  thirty-five  per  cent. 

While  in  some  universities  the  number  of  women 
has  been  limited,  and  in  others  instruction  has  been 
separated  from  that  of  men,  ' '  co-ordinate  education  ' ' 
and  separate  buildings  and  teachers  provided,  and 
even  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  men  against 
women,  nothing  of  the  kind  has  occurred  here.  Dig- 
nity and  self-respect  have  characterized  the  bearing  of 
the  young  women.     They  reside,  so  far  as  opportunity 


266      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

affords,  in  the  Sage  Hall  or  cottage,  but  they  select 
freely  their  residences  in  the  city.  That  which  was 
feared  as  necessary  when  co-education  was  introduced 
— the  minute  regulation  of  conduct  and  constant  super- 
vision— has  not  been  found  necessary.  In  the  early 
days,  it  is  true,  there  was  occasionally  a  maiden  of  a  pro- 
nounced type  who  came  as  a  proto-martyr,  who  stalked 
defiantly  through  groups  of  male  students,  who  felt 
herself  the  representative  of  a  new  idea,  the  fore- 
runner of  a  reform  which  was  to  emancipate  her  sex; 
but  these  have  practically  disappeared.  There  was 
early  a  class  from  cultivated  families  whose  members 
espoused  theoretically  the  cause  of  reform,  and  sent 
their  daughters  to  an  institution  which  had  the  stamp 
of  their  approval.  The  aggressive  type  of  woman  stu- 
dent is  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  young  women  who 
come  are  from  all  classes  in  society,  who  come  here  be- 
cause the  university  offers  the  widest  advantages  for 
culture.  Many  intend  to  be  teachers;  all  are  earnest 
and  refined.  They  are  welcome  to  the  social  events 
of  the  university  world.  They  hold  in  the  Sage  their 
class  theatricals;  they  caricature  privately  whatever 
appeals  to  their  humor.  They  have  their  secret  so- 
cieties, their  clubs,  their  basket-ball  contests,  and  no 
criticism  is  evoked  or  breach  of  decorum  perpetrated. 
They  give  at  times  successfully  attractive  plays  in  the 
Sage  Gymnasium  or  Barnes  Hall,  or  under  the  oaks 
in  the  open  air. 

Wise  and  cultivated  ladies  have  been  chosen  as 
wardens  of  the  Sage,  who  have  been  companions,  kind 
advisers,  gentle  ministrants  in  sickness  or  trouble. 
Thus  the  life  of  the  girl  students  is  earnest,  bright  with 
diversion,  and  they  graduate  bearing  the  happiest 
memories  of  their  college  life. 


CHAPTER  XVni 

THE    RELATION    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   TO    THE    CHURCH 

IN  the  act  passed  May  1,  1784,  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  changing  the  name  of  King's 
College  in  New  York  to  that  of  Columbia  College, 
and  erecting  a  university  within  the  state,  it  was 
provided  that  no  professor  should  in  any  wise  whatso- 
ever be  accounted  ineligible  for  or  by  reason  of  any  re- 
ligious tenet  or  tenets  that  he  might  or  should  profess, 
or  be  compelled  by  any  by-law  or  otherwise  to  take  any 
religious  oath.    In  the  act  of  May  13,  1787,  in  the 
famous  report  recommending  a  revision  of  the  charter 
of  Columbia  College  presented  by  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, it  was  stated  that  the  erection  of  public  schools  was 
an  object  of  very  great  importance,  which  ought  not  to 
be  left  to  the  discretion  of  private  men,  but  be  pro- 
moted by  public  authority.     On  April  13,  1787,  a  law 
embodying  the  views  of  the  Board  of  Regents  was 
passed  establishing  a  state  university,  the  general  pro- 
visions of  which  still  remain  in  force,  and  which  has 
formed  the  basis  of  the  present  system  of  collegiate 
and  academic  instruction  in  the  state.      This  act  re- 
peated the  provision  of  the  original  law  in  different 
words,  stating  that  no  president  or  professor  should  be 
ineligible  for  or  by  reason  of  any  religious  tenet  that 
he  might  or  should  profess,  or  be  compelled  by  any  law 
or  otherwise  to  take  any  test  oath  whatever.    Under 
this  clause  it  was  held  that  it  was  impossible  for  a  col- 
lege to  be  converted  to  sectarian  purposes.     The  men 
who  formed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  were 
resolute  in  upholding  the  separation  of  Church  and 

267 


268      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

State,  and  in  making  the  educational  system  of  this 
country  as  free  as  its  political.  In  the  petition  for  a 
charter  for  Union  College,  presented  December  18, 
1794,  the  second  provision  of  the  proposed  char- 
ter provided  that  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
should  never  be  composed  of  persons  of  the  same  re- 
ligious sect  or  denomination.  In  the  formal  char- 
ter of  the  college  this  principle  was  fully  incorpo- 
rated. The  first  principle  of  religious  equality  con- 
tained in  any  college  charter  in  this  country  is  per- 
haps that  in  the  charter  of  Brown  University,  which 
was  adopted  on  the  last  Monday  in  February,  1764: 
**  It  is  hereby  enacted  and  declared,  that  into  this  lib- 
eral and  catholic  institution  shall  never  be  admitted 
any  religious  tests;  but  on  the  contrary,  all  the  mem- 
bers hereof  shall  forever  enjoy  full,  free,  absolute,  and 
uninterrupted  liberty  of  conscience,  and  that  the 
places  of  professors,  tutors,  and  all  other  officers,  the 
president  alone  excepted,  shall  be  free  and  open  for 
all  denominations  of  Protestants,  and  that  youth  of 
all  religious  denominations  shall  and  may  be  freely 
admitted  to  equal  advantages  in  the  emoluments  and 
honors  of  the  university,  .  .  .  and  that  sectarian  dif- 
ference of  opinion  shall  not  make  any  part  of  the  pub- 
lic and  classical  instruction. ' '  Views  like  these  consti- 
tuted hereafter  a  part  of  the  educational  system  of  the 
state  of  New  York.  Similar  views  received  recogni- 
tion in  the  University  of  Michigan,  where  the  policy 
in  matters  of  religion  was  declared  to  be  identical  with 
that  of  the  common  schools.  Persons  of  every  reli- 
gious denomination  were  capable  of  being  elected 
trustees,  and  no  person,  president,  professor,  in- 
structor, or  pupil,  was  to  be  refused  admission  for  his 
conscientious  convictions  in  matters  of  religion.  In  the 
charter  of  Cornell  University  the  principle  contained 
in  the  charter  of  Union  College  was  stated,  with  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      269 

additional  limitation:  ^'  But  at  no  time  shall  a  ma- 
jority of  the  board  be  of  one  religions  or  of  no  religious 
sect."  This  principle,  therefore,  corresponded  to  the 
enlightened  provisions  of  the  charter  of  our  State 
University  and  to  the  broad  and  liberal  spirit  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  which  pervaded  the  founder  of  the  uni- 
versity. In  the  inaugural  address  of  President  White 
it  was  stated:  ''  Into  these  foundation  principles — 
that  is,  the  union  of  the  scientific  and  the  aesthetic  with 
the  practical — was  now  wrought  another  at  which  every 
earnest  man  should  rejoice:  the  principle  of  unsec- 
tarian  education."  Higher  education  in  America  had 
been  begun  and  fostered  in  all  institutions  by  Chris- 
tian men,  and  had  it  not  been  for  such  support,  no  pro- 
vision would  perhaps  have  been  made  for  many  years 
for  higher  education  in  the  United  States.  To  educa- 
tion as  a  factor  in  social  order  was  joined  the  desire 
to  train  men  for  the  ministry,  and  to  Christianize  the 
savages.  A  second  provision  was  that  persons  of 
every  religious  denomination  or  of  no  religious  de- 
nomination should  be  equally  eligible  to  all  offices  or 
appointments.  And  further.  President  White  in  his 
inaugural  address  said:  '^  We  shall  not  discard  the 
idea  of  worship.  This  has  never  been  dreamed  of  in 
our  plans.  The  first  plan  of  buildings  and  the  last  em- 
braces the  university  chapel.  We  might,  indeed,  find 
little  encouragement  in  college  chapel  services  as  they 
are  often  conducted — prayers  dogmatic  or  ceremonial, 
praise  with  doggerel  hymns,  thin  music,  and  feeble 
choir,  the  great  body  of  students  utterly  listless  or 
worse.  From  yonder  chapel  shall  daily  ascend  prayer 
and  praise.  Day  after  da}^  it  shall  recognize  in  man 
not  only  mental  and  moral,  but  religious  want.  We 
will  labor  to  make  this  a  Christian  institution;  a  sec- 
tarian institution  may  it  never  be." 

This  limitation  upon  the  choice  of  trustees  has  prob- 


270     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ably  never  been  seriously  considered  in  the  election  of 
any  member  of  the  board ;  and  doubtless  at  no  time  has 
it  been  possible  for  anyone  to  state  the  proportion  of 
trustees  who  were  members  of  any  particular  religious 
denomination  or  of  no  denomination. 

At  the  opening  of  the  university,  the  large  lecture 
room  on  the  fourth  floor  of  the  south  university  build- 
ing, now  Morrill  Hall,  inconvenient  as  it  was  of  access, 
was  called  the  Chapel,  and  religious  exercises,  to  which 
attendance  was  voluntary,  were  held  every  morning  at 
eight  o'clock.  Services  were  conducted  by  Reverend 
Professor  W.  D.  Wilson,  consisting  of  the  reading  of 
a  passage  of  Scripture,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  certain 
collects  from  the  Prayer  Book.  These  exercises  were 
conducted  with  great  faithfulness  by  Dr.  Wilson  for 
five  years.  As  few  of  the  students  were  accommodated 
in  the  university  buildings,  and  many  had  no  recita- 
tions upon  the  hill  at  the  first  hour,  attendance  upon 
morning  prayers  was  very  limited.  The  veteran  chap- 
lain, after  continuing  them  for  several  years,  stated 
with  assurance  that  he  had  always  had  one  present. 
Inquiry  did  not  elicit  the  fact  whether  that  one  con- 
stituted the  reader,  or  a  solitary  worshiper. 

In  the  erection  of  the  Sage  College,  it  was  proposed 
that  the  present  large  botanical  lecture  room  should 
constitute  the  University  Chapel.  The  erection  of  the 
present  chapel  is  immediately  due  to  the  pure  and 
beautiful  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Sage.  As  the 
plans  for  the  new  college  were  hastily  examined  in 
Brooklyn  one  evening,  she  inquired :  ' '  Is  that  the  only 
provision  in  that  great  university  which  is  made  for 
religious  services?  "  On  the  following  morning,  Mr. 
Sage  called  upon  President  White  and  stated  that,  if 
he  would  go  with  him  and  select  the  site  of  a  chapel,  he 
would  give  the  same  to  the  university.  This  occurred 
in  1872.    Professor  Babcock  was  the  architect  of  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      271 

new  chapel,  which  was  erected  during  the  year  1874- 
75.  It  was  designed  to  accommodate  500  students, 
the  number  of  students  then  in  the  university  being 
about  that  number.  The  south  transept  was  designed 
to  be  occupied  for  morning  prayers,  but  prayers  were 
only  held  there  a  few  times,  if  at  all.  The  number  of 
students  who  resided  upon  the  hill  had  gradually  be- 
come smaller,  as  the  needs  of  the  university  made  it 
necessary  to  use  rooms  in  the  two  dormitories  for  pur- 
poses of  instruction.  The  University  Chapel  was  for- 
mally dedicated  by  the  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks  of  Trinity 
Church,  Boston,  who  preached  from  the  text :  ' '  What 
I  tell  you  in  darkness,  that  speak  ye  in  light, ' '  on  June 
13,  1875,  in  a  memorable  discourse.  In  his  address 
to  the  graduating  class  he  emphasized  the  words, ' '  and 
the  common  people  heard  him  gladly."  But  after  the 
erection  of  the  Chapel  no  funds  were  available  for  the 
support  of  preaching  or  of  a  university  pastor.  Under 
these  circumstances  Mr.  Dean  Sage  of  Albany  made 
possible  the  realization  of  the  noble  purpose  of  his 
father  in  the  erection  of  the  Chapel,  by  the  gift  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  the  income  of  which  should  be  spent 
in  paying  the  salary  of  a  university  pastor,  or  the  ex- 
pense of  university  preachers.  The  question  of  how 
the  best  results  were  to  be  obtained  in  the  use  of  this 
fund  was  one  which  received  serious  consideration. 
President  White  was  familiar  in  his  own  college  ex- 
perience with  the  institution  of  a  college  pastor,  with 
obligatory  attendance  upon  religious  services.  He 
opposed  energetically  the  idea  of  compulsory  attend- 
ance at  morning  prayers  and  at  chapel  services,  be- 
lieving that  worship,  to  be  acceptable  and  successful 
when  associated  with  a  university,  must  be  voluntary. 
His  own  visits  to  the  services  connected  with  the  Eng- 
lish universities,  and  his  fondness  for  music,  led  him 
to  desire  that  the  musical  feature  of  the  chapel  service 


272     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

should  be  made  prominent,  and  he  has  always  advo- 
cated the  establishment  of  a  musical  professorship  in 
connection  with  the  university,  the  holder  of  which 
should  be  musical  director  of  the  university.  During 
the  years  past  the  most  eloquent  representatives  of  the 
various  denominations  have  preached  in  the  Chapel, 
and  whatever  eloquence  and  ability  could  contribute 
to  make  the  present  plan  a  success  has  been  realized. 
The  absence  of  a  church  organization  in  connection 
with  the  Chapel  constantly  leads  large  numbers  of  stu- 
dents to  connect  themselves  with  the  churches  in  town, 
the  services  of  which  they  attend.  It  is  obviously 
necessary  that  preachers  who  are  called  to  the  univer- 
sity chapel  should  be  gifted  as  pulpit  orators,  but 
above  all  that,  that  they  possess  the  power  to  appeal  to 
young  men.  Mere  theologians  who  have  appeared  in 
the  university  chapel  have,  as  a  rule,  failed  to  secure 
the  attention  of  the  students,  or  to  produce  a  lasting 
impression.  It  is  also  necessary  that  the  preachers 
should  be  known,  men  of  recognized  ability  and  reputa- 
tion; for  in  no  organization,  perhaps,  does  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  individual  preacher  exercise  so  important 
an  influence  upon  his  audience  as  in  the  voluntary  sys- 
tem of  chapel  services.  Men  of  great  excellence  and 
ability,  but  unknown,  have  constantly  failed  to  attract 
an  audience.  It  must  be  admitted  that  a  pulpit  thus 
conducted,  without  a  church,  has  the  character  of  a 
religious  lectureship,  and  students  are  prone  to  regard 
attendance  upon  it  as,  in  part,  a  matter  of  indifference. 
A  chapel  that  will  seat  eight  hundred  people  has 
proved  adequate,  as  a  rule,  to  accommodate  a  uni- 
versity population  which  numbers  at  least  three  thou- 
sand. It  may  well  be  queried,  after  an  experiment  ex- 
tending over  twenty  years,  whether  the  system  in 
vogue  has  been  so  successful  that  the  Chapel  has  be- 
come, as  it  properly  should,  the  center  of  the  religious 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      273 

life  of  the  university,  and  has  acquired  a  constantly  in- 
creasing hold  upon  the  students.  Preachers  come,  ful- 
fill their  engagement,  and  disappear ;  they  are  often  un- 
known, and  after  a  few  hours  return  unknown  to  whence 
they  came,  leaving  little  or  no  impression  upon  the  uni- 
versity world.  Many  able  preachers  from  city  pulpits, 
of  large  reputation  and  influence,  fail  in  the  presence 
of  an  academic  audience.  Eminent  theologians,  suc- 
cessful clerical  editors,  popular  denominational  orators, 
often  lack  the  personal  address,  the  human  sympathy 
which  appeals  to  the  student  world.  The  personal  ad- 
miration which  so  often  urges  local  representatives  for 
the  university  pulpit  is  an  unsafe  test  of  success  in  that 
place.  A  single  mistake  in  the  choice  of  a  preacher  at 
the  opening  of  the  college  year  frequently  leaves  the 
student  listless  and  discouraged  as  regards  the  result 
of  a  subsequent  experiment  in  church-going,  which 
he  is  often  indisposed  to  make.  On  the  contrary, 
preachers  who  possess  a  genuine  sympathy  with  young 
men  seldom  fail  to  meet  a  responsive  audience  and  to 
receive  cordial  recognition.  Peculiar  gifts  are  de- 
manded of  those  called  upon  to  address  students.  The 
question  has  been  solved  of  late  in  different  ways. 
Harvard  has  probably  attained  the  most  satisfactory 
solution  with  a  resident  college  pastor  of  recognized 
ability  as  a  preacher,  who  possesses  an  interest  in  all 
questions  which  concern  thoughtful  students.  He  is  in 
permanent  residence,  to  whom  all  students  may  go  for 
counsel.  To  him  are  joined  clergymen  of  different 
denominations,  who  are  in  residence  for  four  weeks  at 
a  time.  These  are  men  of  marked  eminence,  and 
chosen  distinctly  for  their  power  to  influence  young 
men.  These  five  preachers,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Professor  of  Christian  Morals,  arrange  and  conduct 
the  religious  services  of  the  university.  Each  one  con- 
ducts daily  morning  prayers  for  about  three  weeks  in 


274     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  first  half  of  the  year  and  about  three  weeks  in  the 
second  half  of  the  year,  and  preaches  on  four  succes- 
sive Sunday  evenings.  The  preacher  who  conducts 
morning  prayers  is  in  attendance  every  morning  dur- 
ing his  term  of  duty,  and  is  at  the  immediate  service 
of  any  student  who  may  desire  to  consult  him.  This 
arrangement  places  at  the  disposal  of  the  students  a 
greater  amount  of  pastoral  service  than  most  ministers 
can  give  to  their  own  parishes.  On  Thursday  after- 
noons, from  November  until  May,  vesper  services  are 
held  in  the  University  Chapel,  largely  musical,  with  a 
full  male  choir  of  forty  members,  and  an  address  is 
made  by  one  of  the  staff  of  preachers.  College  confer- 
ences are  also  held,  at  which  addresses  are  delivered 
by  the  professors  upon  the  Bible  in  its  literary,  ethical, 
and  religious  aspects.  Under  this  system  there  is  a 
permanent  pastor,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  pulpit 
services  are  conducted  by  clergymen  whom  the  stu- 
dents come  to  know,  and  who  alike  know  their  audience 
and  can  adapt  their  service  to  them.  Its  success  has 
been  so  great  that  in  many  colleges  where  there  is  a 
permanent  pastor  the  essential  features  of  this  plan 
have  been  more  or  less  fully  adopted.  The  University 
of  Virginia,  also  an  undenominational  institution,  has 
a  resident  pastor  for  a  fixed  number  of  years,  chosen 
in  turn  from  several  of  the  leading  denominations  of 
the  state.  Either  system  promises  more  success  than 
a  series  of  disconnected  preachers,  with  varying  sub- 
jects, arranged  without  consultation,  who  acquire 
during  the  few  hours  of  their  residence  in  Ithaca 
slight  acquaintance  with  the  needs  of  the  student 
world. 

The  absence  of  a  dormitory  system,  through  which 
students  find  a  home  upon  the  university  grounds,  has 
been  a  serious  obstacle  in  the  development  of  sys- 
tematic attendance  upon  chapel  services.     An  over- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      275 

whelming  majority  of  the  students  reside  in  the  city, 
at  a  distance  from  the  university,  and  thus  are  not 
favorably  situated  to  attend  daily  services,  and  are 
nearer  to  the  churches  of  the  city,  whose  able  preachers 
prove  a  stronger  attraction  to  them  than  unknown 
preachers  in  the  Chapel. 

The  Christian  Association  was  one  of  the  earliest 
societies  formed  in  connection  with  the  university. 
The  first  number  of  the  Cornellian,  in  a  list  of  five  hun- 
dred and  seventy-one  students,  contains  the  names  of 
forty  members  of  the  association.  For  many  years  a 
devoted  body  of  students  met  on  Sunday,  and  for  a 
Bible  class  or  prayer  meeting  on  week-days,  in  the 
Society  Hall  in  the  north  building,  now  White  Hall. 
Later,  under  energetic  leadership,  it  undertook  the 
elaborate  enterprise  of  raising  funds  to  erect  on  the 
university  campus  a  building  for  the  use  of  the  Chris- 
tian Association.  It  had  proceeded  a  certain  distance 
in  this  enterprise,  when  Mr.  Alfred  S.  Barnes  of  New 
York  offered  to  give  a  sum  sufficient  to  complete  the 
proposed  building.  This  building  was  designed  to  con- 
tain lecture  rooms,  Bible-class  rooms,  reception  rooms, 
parlors,  library,  and  rooms  for  a  permanent  secre- 
tary and  others.  The  beautiful  structure,  which  was 
erected  in  1889,  has  proved  the  center  of  the  religious 
life  of  the  university.  Its  rooms  are  freely  at  the  dis- 
posal of  all  the  religious  societies.  One  recent  feature 
of  the  religious  life  of  the  university  has  been  the  for- 
mation into  societies,  circles,  or  unions,  as  they  are 
variously  called,  of  the  students  of  the  several  denom- 
inations. Thus  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Methodist, 
Unitarian,  Episcopalian,  Roman  Catholic,  and  other 
students  have  been  united  into  guilds  or  organizations, 
the  main  purpose  of  which  is  to  cultivate  mutual  sym- 
pathy, and  to  perpetuate  the  associations  with  which 
they  are  familiar  at  home.     The  greatest  catholicity 


276      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

exists  in  the  relation  of  these  various  organizations  to 
one  another,  and  they  frequently  participate  in  recep- 
tions, lectures,  and  excursions  in  common.  The  reli- 
gious activity  of  the  students  manifests  itself  in  very 
beneficial  ways:  in  the  reception  and  care  of  new- 
students  arriving  at  the  university;  in  a  watchful 
interest  over  sick  students,  and  in  holding  religious 
meetings  in  various  communities  at  a  distance  from 
Ithaca,  where  no  other  religious  services  are  held. 
Systematic  and  classified  schemes  for  Bible  study  are 
presented  each  year,  and  numerous  classes  for  the 
study  of  different  portions  of  the  Bible,  its  antiquities, 
literature,  history,  and  of  practical  ethics,  are  ar- 
ranged. Special  lectures  and  addresses  from  clergy- 
men, and  often  from  members  of  the  faculty,  are  held 
during  the  winter  term  when  there  is  no  preaching 
service  in  the  chapel.  The  number  of  members  at 
the  present  time  is  about  six  hundred,  making  the  asso- 
ciation, it  is  said,  one  of  the  largest  university  Chris- 
tian Associations  in  the  country,  possibly  in  the  world. 
The  association  supported  for  several  years  a  grad- 
uate of  the  university  in  Japan,  who  sought  to  found 
there  similar  organizations  among  the  young  men  of 
the  cities  and  universities  of  that  country. 

The  Christian  Association  has  had  not  only  a  reli- 
gious purpose,  but  one  of  practical  beneficence  as  well. 
It  has  become  the  center  of  numerous  agencies  for  pro- 
viding students  with  work,  securing  homes  for  them, 
and  for  conducting  schools  and  religious  services  in 
remote  communities  around  Ithaca.  In  a  single  year 
it  secured  positions  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
men. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE    ALUMNI 


ANEW  element  in  university  administration 
has  been  introduced,  in  giving  to  the  alunmi 
the  right  of  representation  upon  the  Board 
^  of  Overseers  or  Trustees.  It  was  expected 
that  a  double  object  would  be  attained  by  this  measure : 
that  new  men,  having  a  personal  interest  in  the  uni- 
versity and  a  recent  knowledge  of  its  needs,  would 
become  a  part  of  the  government,  and  that  the  alumni 
would  sustain  a  permanent  relation  to  the  institution, 
when  directly  associated  in  its  management.  This 
may  be  regarded  as  an  adaptation  of  the  English  uni- 
versity system,  by  which  masters  in  residence  for  a 
part  of  the  year  at  Cambridge  form  the  senate,  and 
at  Oxford  the  convocation — legislative  bodies  to  which 
all  regulations  are  submitted  for  discussion  and  ap- 
proval. Graduates  who  retain  connection  with  the 
university  are  thus  enabled  to  contribute  the  results 
of  their  learning  to  the  decision  of  all  matters  affecting 
chairs  of  instruction,  degrees,  and  government.  The 
contrast  which  exists  in  the  scholarship  of  English  and 
American  students  upon  graduation  makes  the  experi- 
ment in  the  two  cases  far  from  identical.  The  class 
to  which  authority  is  entrusted  in  the  English  univer- 
sities is,  in  extent  of  study  and  experience,  far  in  ad- 
vance of  our  own  graduates,  and  is  composed  in  most 
cases  of  professors  and  resident  masters  pursuing 
liberal  studies  still  farther.  In  some  colleges  in  this 
country,  the  right  to  participate  in  these  elections  is 
limited  to  graduates  of  five  years '  standing,  but  if  it  is 

277 


278      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

important  to  continue  the  relation  of  the  alumni  to 
their  university,  this  delay  in  conferring  the  right  of 
suffrage  until  after  a  considerable  period  of  separa- 
tion from  the  college  has  certain  disadvantages.  The 
fact  that  so  large  a  portion  of  the  alumni  of  our  col- 
leges are  scattered  throughout  the  land,  and  thus  re- 
moved from  an  opportunity  of  voting  in  person  at 
Commencement,  is  obviated  in  some  cases  by  a  provi- 
sion enabling  a  ballot  for  alumni  trustees  to  be  sent 
by  mail,  which  is  counted  as  if  delivered  in  person. 
Any  method  which  will  retain  the  active  interest  of 
the  alumni  in  their  alma  mater  is  worthy  of  examina- 
tion, and  possibly  of  trial.  The  first  university  in  this 
country  to  introduce  the  principle  of  alumni  represen- 
tation in  the  choice  of  trustees  was  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. It  was  proposed  as  early  as  1854,  and  a  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts  in  that  year, 
which  passed  through  most  of  the  preliminary  stages 
but  failed  to  be  enacted  owing,  it  is  said,  to  the  pressure 
of  business  at  the  close  of  the  session. 

On  April  28,  1865,  an  act  was  passed  by  which  the 
right  to  choose  the  overseers  of  Harvard  College  was 
transferred  from  the  General  Court  or  legislature  to 
graduates  of  five  years'  standing,  who  should  vote  by 
ballot  on  Commencement  day,  in  the  city  of  Cambridge. 
The  choice  of  overseers  was  at  first  limited  to  citizens 
of  Massachusetts,  but  by  a  supplementary  act,  passed 
March  5,  1880,  persons  who  were  not  inhabitants  of 
the  Commonwealth,  but  otherwise  qualified,  were  made 
eligible  as  overseers  of  Harvard  College.  In  the  act 
establishing  Cornell  University,  no  mention  is  made  of 
the  election  of  trustees  by  the  alumni,  but  in  an  amend- 
ment to  the  charter,  passed  April  24,  1867,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  whenever  the  alumni  of  the  university 
should  reach  the  number  of  one  hundred,  they  were 
empowered  to  elect  one  trustee.     By  an  amendment  to 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      279 

the  charter  passed  May  15,  1883,  it  was  provided  that 
members  of  the  ahimni  who  were  not  present  at  Com- 
mencement might  send  in  their  ballots  in  writing.  The 
difference  between  the  Harvard  provision  and  that  of 
Cornell  consists  in  the  fact  that  at  Harvard  there  are 
two  governing  bodies,  the  fellows  or  corporation  and 
the  overseers,  who  exercise  the  right  of  veto  upon  all 
action  of  the  corporation.  The  graduates  of  Harvard 
have  the  right  to  elect  the  entire  board  of  overseers, 
consisting  of  thirty  members.  Their  influence  may 
thus  be  exerted  at  once  effectively,  in  determining  all 
questions  of  policy,  through  the  overseers.  At  Cornell 
there  are  thirty  elective  trustees,  ten  of  whom  may 
be  chosen  by  the  alumni.  The  power  thus  conferred 
is  limited,  when  compared  with  that  of  the  alumni  of 
Harvard.  In  further  distinction  from  the  Harvard 
system,  all  Cornell  alumni,  wherever  resident,  may  par- 
ticipate in  the  election  of  trustees.  The  system  may 
now  be  tested  by  its  results,  as  nearly  thirty  years 
have  passed  since  its  introduction.  It  may  be  pre- 
mised, that  where  there  is  a  large  and  intelligent  body 
of  the  alumni  residing  in  the  vicinity  of  a  college,  at- 
tendance upon  the  meetings  of  the  trustees  and  active 
participation  in  the  decision  of  all  university  questions 
are  possible,  and  the  results  attained  of  a  different 
order  from  what  occurs  when  the  alumni  are  widely 
scattered.  A  choice  of  the  ablest  and  most  influential 
scholars  and  educators  may  be  made,  whose  residence 
will  permit  them  to  give  the  most  careful  attention  to 
the  interests  of  the  university;  but  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  the  results  under  the  present  system 
have  fully  equaled  the  expectations  which  had  been 
formed.  The  character  of  the  trustees  or  overseers 
elected  by  the  alumni  has  not  greatly  differed  from 
those  previously  chosen.  In  most  colleges,  a  majority 
of  the  trustees  have  always  been  graduates  of  the  col- 


280     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

lege,  and  the  fact  of  an  election  by  the  alumni  did  not 
change  their  essential  character.  Where  alumni 
trustees  have  been  substituted  for  a  long  list  of  ea>- 
officio  members,  as  at  Yale  or  Harvard  or  elsewhere, 
there  has  been  a  real  gain.  At  Harvard,  however,  the 
substantial  power  still  rests  with  the  corporation, 
which  is,  in  the  main,  a  self-perpetuating  body,  while 
the  overseers  have  only  the  right  of  confirmation  of  its 
nominations,  and  do  not  originate  action.  An  alumnus 
is  chosen  for  prominence  in  social  or  political  life,  or 
for  eminence  as  a  lawyer  or  clergyman,  and  not  be- 
cause he  has  any  intelligent  acquaintance  with  the  his- 
tory of  education,  or  is  qualified  to  judge  of  the  de- 
mands of  higher  learning  at  the  present  time.  Local 
considerations  often  influence  the  selection  of  candi- 
dates, and  party  interests  are  not  always  forgotten. 
Men  are  elected  who  can  snatch  but  a  hasty  moment 
from  the  pressing  demands  of  professional  life,  to 
decide  upon  questions  affecting  the  permanent  educa- 
tional interests  of  the  nation,  and  to  judge  of  the  stand- 
ing and  qualifications  of  professors  in  all  departments 
of  learning.  The  election  is  often  determined  by  a 
small  proportion  of  the  alumni  who  are  able  to  be  pres- 
ent or  have  an  interest  in  voting.  In  such  cases  an 
active  local  interest  or  an  aggressive  partisanship  may 
prevail,  and  a  choice  occur  based  upon  some  remote 
college  or  society  popularity.  The  attendance  of 
trustees  so  chosen  has  not  always  been  secured,  and 
only  a  measure  of  success  under  favorable  circum- 
stances may  at  present  be  considered  as  attained  by 
the  system. 

On  several  occasions  the  influence  of  the  alumni  has 
been  very  advantageously  felt  in  presenting  their 
views  in  regard  to  questions  of  university  policy.  One 
of  the  most  notable  instances  of  this  kind  was  in  con- 
nection with  the  subject  of  honorary  degrees.    It  had 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      281 


been  the  settled  policy  of  the  university  from  the  be- 
ginning to  bestow  no  honorary  degrees.  Soon  after 
the  beginning  of  the  administration  of  President 
Adams,  he  recommended  the  bestowal  of  honorary 
degrees,  believing  that  a  time  had  been  reached  in  the 
history  of  the  university  when  such  degrees  might  be 
properly  conferred  in  recognition  of  distinguished  at- 
tainments by  our  own  graduates  or  others.  At  the 
second  Commencement  of  the  university,  President 
White  had  stated  publicly  and  explicitly  that  it  was 
the  policy  of  the  university  to  bestow  no  honorary 
degrees.  The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 
had  bestowed  upon  Professor  Goldwin  Smith  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Letters,  in  recognition  of  his  high 
scholarship  and  distinguished  services  to  education 
both  in  England  and  America,  and,  above  all,  of  his 
generous  identification  of  himself  with  the  various  edu- 
cational interests  of  the  state.  This  degree  was  for- 
mally presented  at  Commencement,  1870.  Upon  this 
occasion.  President  White  stated  that  the  trustees  had 
decided  to  confer  no  honorary  degrees,  but  he  was 
gratified  to  have  the  honor  of  announcing  that  the 
Regents  of  the  State  of  New  York  had  delegated  to 
him  the  pleasure  of  conferring  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Letters  on  one  whose  labors  in  the  field  of  letters  the 
world  is  proud  to  acknowledge,  Goldwin  Smith.  The 
trustees,  under  the  impression  that  the  faculty  of  the 
university  favored  the  proposed  change  in  policy, 
passed  a  resolution  in  favor  of  granting  such  degrees. 
This  resolution  was  opposed  by  the  alumni  representa- 
tive in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  but  the  latter  decided 
that  the  provision  requiring  the  concurrence  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  of  the  faculty  would  guard 
against  any  danger  which  might  arise  from  an  indis- 
criminate and  unguarded  bestowal  of  such  degrees. 
Immediately  after  this  action,  four  names  were  pre- 


282      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

sented  to  the  faculty  for  honorary  degrees,  whose 
merits  the  faculty  would  have  been  glad  to  recognize, 
had  they  not  felt  a  pride  in  the  honor  of  the  university, 
which  enabled  them  to  say  that  every  degree  conferred 
had  always  been  earned  and  established  by  satisfactory 
courses  of  study,  and  confirmed  by  the  requisite  exam- 
inations and  theses.  Of  the  names  presented  to  the 
faculty,  one  received  twenty  votes  out  of  twenty-two 
cast,  and  one  eighteen,  in  each  case  less  than  half  the 
faculty.  The  question  having  been  raised  whether  the 
resolution  of  the  trustees  contemplated  the  approval 
of  any  nomination  by  two-thirds  of  the  resident  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty,  or  by  two-thirds  of  those  voting,  the 
question  was  referred  to  the  trustees  for  decision,  and 
the  remaining  names  which  had  been  presented  were 
withdrawn.  In  reporting  the  action  of  the  faculty  to  the 
trustees,  the  question  of  the  interpretation  of  the  law 
which  had  been  raised  was  not  presented,  and  these  two 
degrees  were  voted  by  the  trustees,  and  stand  alone  as 
the  only  honorary  degrees  ever  conferred  by  the  univer- 
sity. Under  these  circumstances,  a  majority  of  the 
alumni  presented  a  memorial  to  the  trustees  and  fac- 
ulty of  the  university  protesting  against  the  adoption  of 
the  policy  of  bestowing  such  degrees  as  injurious  to  the 
university.  It  was  shown  that  in  eighteen  years,  1,102 
first  degrees  and  82  second  degrees  had  been  conferred, 
and  that  for  every  advanced  degree  a  certain  specified 
amount  of  work,  under  careful  supervision,  with  resi- 
dence, together  with  the  presentation  of  the  proper 
thesis  and  examination,  had  been  required;  that  if  the 
policy  of  conferring  advanced  degrees  without  study 
and  residence  were  pursued,  the  value  of  all  degrees 
would  be  impaired,  and  graduate  students  would  have 
less  incentive  to  pursue  their  studies  in  course  for  de- 
grees which  might  otherwise  be  obtained  ''  honoris 
causa/'    It  was  believed  that  such  a  policy,  involving 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      283 

as  it  did  a  distinction  between  different  members  of  the 
almnni,  won  Id  result  in  final  harm,  and  in  an  appreci- 
able loosening  of  the  bonds  of  loyalty.  The  various  de- 
partments of  the  university  were  so  numerous  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  determine  between  the  merit  of  stu- 
dents distinguished  in  different  branches.  To  attempt 
to  weigh,  for  example,  the  claims  of  an  alumnus  who 
has  written  a  successful  novel  against  the  claims  of  one 
who  has  built  a  great  bridge  or  made  an  important 
scientific  discovery,  or  achieved  marked  success  in  any 
profession,  was  manifestly  absurd.  ''  You  cannot," 
says  De  Quincey, ' '  affirm  imparity  where  the  ground  is 
occupied  by  disparity."  Where  there  is  no  parity  of 
principles,  there  is  no  basis  for  comparison.  How,  then, 
can  any  body  of  men  determine  the  conflicting  claims  of 
the  graduates  of  various  and  widely  divergent  depart- 
ments ?  It  was  shown  that  in  the  year  1884,  sixteen  ob- 
scure colleges  in  this  country  had  conferred  ninety-nine 
degrees  in  course,  and  seventy-two  honorary  degrees; 
and  that  in  the  year  1883,  five  hundred  honorary 
degrees  were  conferred  in  the  United  States.  Presi- 
dent Barnard  at  Columbia  College  had  recommended  a 
most  stringent  policy  "  in  consequence  of  the  constant 
and  annoying  pressure  upon  the  board  by  outsiders,  by 
whom  every  form  of  social  and  even  occasionally  polit- 
ical influence  was  brought  to  bear  to  induce  them  to 
confer  academic  honors  upon  persons  doubtfully  de- 
serving." President  Gilman  had  stated:  ''  The  whole 
system  as  at  present  maintained  is  full  of  fraud 
towards  the  public,  unfairness  towards  men  of  letters, 
and  dishonor  to  the  name  of  learning  and  to  the  thought 
of  academic  honor."  Boston  University  had  boldly 
adopted  the  policy  and  announced  it  in  its  catalogue. 
"  The  university  confers  no  honorary  degrees  of  any 
kind."  The  claims  which  might  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  university  by  successful  politicians  who  have 


284     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

risen  to  high  positions  in  the  state  and  national  gov- 
ernments might  not  be  easy  to  be  resisted.  This  sig- 
nificant appeal  to  the  faculty  was  signed  by  the 
presidents  of  the  almnni  associations  of  Ithaca,  New 
York,  Central  New  York,  Western  New  York,  New 
England,  Northeastern  Pennsylvania,  Washington, 
Chicago,  Minnesota,  and  Ohio.  Upon  its  presentation 
in  the  faculty,  the  faculty  referred  it  to  the  trustees 
with  a  unanimous  approval,  where  a  resolution  was 
likewise  passed  without  a  dissenting  voice  rescinding 
the  vote  concerning  honorary  degrees.  On  other  occa- 
sions when  the  opinion  of  the  alumni  upon  questions 
of  university  policy  has  been  presented,  it  has  always 
received  full  and  respectful  consideration.  Such  occa- 
sions have  occurred  in  connection  with  the  choice  of  a 
president,  with  the  question  of  professors'  salaries, 
and  the  erection  of  buildings. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  alumni  held  on  June 
18, 1884,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  trustee  last  elected  by  the  alumni 
shall,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  his  office,  make  a 
written  report  on  the  conditions  and  needs  of  the  uni- 
versity to  the  associate  alumni  at  their  annual  meeting 
in  Ithaca,  said  report  to  be  submitted  in  writing  to  the 
other  alumni  trustees,  and  their  dissent  or  approval 
to  be  endorsed  thereon  before  presentation. 

It  was  also 

Resolved,  That  such  report  be  printed  by  the  alumni, 
but  that  the  association  shall  not  be  considered  as 
adopting  the  views  presented. 

Since  1885  the  alumni  trustee  last  elected  has  pre- 
sented to  the  assembled  body  of  the  alumni,  at  their 
annual  meeting  in  Commencement  week,  a  report  upon 
the  condition  of  the  university,  with  a  review  of  its 
condition  and  policy,  accompanied  by  such  recom- 
mendations as  he  deemed  best.     These  reports  of  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      285 


alumni  trustees  have  often  been  of  great  value.  They 
have  always  embodied  a  generous  and  grateful  recog- 
nition of  the  indebtedness  of  the  university  to  the 
faculty,  and  a  jealous  regard  for  academic  liberty. 
President  Jordan,  of  the  class  of  1872,  in  his  report 
of  1888,  said:  "  But  buildings,  equipment,  libraries, 
departments, — students  even, — do  not  make  a  univer- 
sity. It  is  the  men  who  teach.  How  will  Cornell  stand 
the  tests  which  we  may  apply  to  her  faculty!  The 
faculty  was  the  glory  of  the  old  Cornell.  It  was  the 
strength  of  the  men  whom,  with  marvelous  insight, 
President  White  called  about  him  in  1868,  that  made 
the  Cornell  we  knew.  Everything  else  was  raw,  crude, 
discouraging,  but  with  the  teachers  was  inspiration. 
We  cannot  look  on  the  Cornell  of  1870  as  an  inferior 
school,  for  it  was  not,  scanty  as  its  material  outfit  may 
have  been.  I  have  even  questioned  whether  the  pioneer 
work  of  those  times,  the  work  of  blazing  the  educa- 
tional road,  did  not  make  a  deeper  impression  on  the 
student's  mind  than  the  perfect  methods  and  well-oiled 
machinery  of  to-day.  But  a  visit  to  the  various  class- 
rooms shows  the  old  leaven  still  at  work.  In  no  re- 
spect, I  believe,  does  Cornell  now  make  so  good  a  show- 
ing as  in  her  faculty.  Of  all  her  many  departments, 
there  is  scarcely  one  that  does  not  feel  the  impulse  of 
a  strong  man  at  its  head.  Nowhere  in  this  country, 
I  believe,  is  so  able  a  band  of  instructors  gathered  to- 
gether as  at  Ithaca. 

"  In  nothing  connected  with  the  growth  of  Cornell 
have  the  alumni  taken  so  deep  an  interest  as  in  the 
selection  of  the  faculty.  We  have  felt  the  right  to 
form  high  expectations  here.  We  have  felt  that  no 
second-rate  or  second-hand  man  should  find  place  at 
Cornell  while  first-rate  men  can  be  found  anywhere 
in  America — anywhere  in  the  world.  We  have  felt 
that  to  Ezra  Cornell's  statement,  '  I  would  found  an 


286      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

institution  where  any  person  may  find  instruction  in 
any  study,'  the  Board  of  Trustees  should  add,  '  We 
will  maintain  an  institution  in  which  every  subject 
which  is  taught  shall  be  taught  in  the  best  possible 
way.'  Not  how  many  things,  but  how  well,  is  the 
essence  of  the  higher  education.  And  in  this  connec- 
tion, Emerson's  words  come  to  us:  '  Colleges  can  only 
serve  us  when  they  aim  not  to  drill,  but  to  create :  when 
they  gather  from  afar  every  ray  of  various  genius  to 
their  hospitable  halls,  and  by  the  concentrated  fires  set 
the  heart  of  their  youth  on  flame. ' 

' '  The  '  subtle  influence  of  character, '  the  association 
with  men,  has  been  the  heart  of  the  Cornell  education 
in  the  past.  No  one  can  go  through  the  various  labora- 
tories and  lecture  rooms  of  to-day  without  an  over- 
powering conviction  that  men  are  still  there.  A  pro- 
fessor to  whom  original  investigation  is  unknown 
should  have  no  place  in  a  university.  Men  of  common- 
place or  second-hand  scholarship  are  of  necessity  men 
of  low  ideals,  however  carefully  that  fact  may  be  dis- 
guised. A  man  of  high  ideals  must  be  an  investigator. 
He  must  know  and  think  for  himself,  and  only  such 
as  do  this  can  be  really  great  as  teachers.  The  highest 
function  of  the  real  university  is  that  of  instruction  by 
investigation,  and  a  man  who  cannot  and  does  not  in- 
vestigate cannot  train  investigators. 

'*  There  are  some  men  at  Cornell  whose  work  is  too 
precious  to  science  and  literature  to  compel  them  to 
spend  their  time  and  strength  in  teaching  boys  the 
rudiments  of  knowledge.  I  lately  heard  from  a  Ger- 
man professor  a  strong  argument  for  the  appointment, 
by  a  real  university,  of  professors  who  teach  no  classes 
at  all,  devoting  their  time  and  strength  entirely  to  ad- 
vanced research.  Their  presence  and  example  may  be 
worth  to  the  student-body  a  hundred-fold  more  than 
the  precept  and  drill  of  the  others.     They  set  high 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      287 

standards  of  work.  They  help  create  a  university  at- 
mosphere— a  university  spirit  without  which  any  col- 
lege is  but  a  preparatory  school  of  little  higher  pre- 
tensions. '  Famous  men  make  famous  institutions,  and 
unless  the  teachers  have  time  and  means  for  working 
on  their  specialties  and  to  make  themselves  known, — if 
they  are  compelled  to  spend  all  their  time  in  routine 
classroom  work, — they  can  never  rise  above  medi- 
ocrity. ' 

''  Of  the  days  when  the  University  of  Munich  was 
great,  Agassiz  says :  '  Every  one  of  our  professors 
was  also  eminent  in  some  line  of  research.  They  were 
not  men  who  taught  from  text-books  or  even  read  lec- 
tures made  up  from  extracts  of  original  works.  They 
were  themselves  investigators,  daily  contributing  to 
the  sum  of  human  knowledge.'  That  this  was  true 
meant  greatness  in  the  university.  That  this  is  no 
longer  true  is  the  mark  of  the  university's  decline. 

^'  I  do  not  advocate  the  creation  of  professorships 
for  researches  alone,  because  our  educational  system 
is  not  ready  for  it.  American  colleges  are  too  prac- 
tical for  that.  This,  however,  is  true.  Cornell  will 
not  reach  her  highest  possibilities  until  each  of  her 
professors  can  make  the  most  of  himself,  until  each 
head  of  a  department  comes  to  feel  that  it  is  as  much 
a  part  of  his  duty  as  professor  to  add  to  the  sum  of 
knowledge  in  some  part  of  his  field  as  it  is  to  assort 
and  disseminate  the  knowledge  amassed  by  others. 
"When  this  is  the  case  the  graduate  students  will  flock 
to  Cornell,  and  Harvard,  Johns  Hopkins,  or  Germany 
will  cease  to  be  the  sole  possibilities  for  students  eager 
for  advanced  education." 

The  report  of  Mr.  Robert  H.  Treman,  of  the  class 
of  1878,  presented  in  1892,  discusses  the  compensation 
of  professors,  and  shows  a  careful  study  of  the  impor- 
tance and  of  the  difficulty  of  the  subject,  and  at  the 


288      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

same  time  contains  an  earnest  plea  for  justice  and  fair 
consideration. 

*'  The  question  of  a  fair  and  equitable  adjustment 
of  the  salaries  of  those  who  comprise  the  teaching  force 
of  a  great  institution  of  learning  has  become  one  of 
the  most  difficult  subjects  in  university  administration. 
Probably  most  of  the  alumni  are  familiar  with  the 
policy  of  Cornell  in  the  past  on  the  salary  question, 
which  has  been  to  have  a  uniform  basis  of  salary  in 
the  early  years  of  the  university;  this  has  been  grad- 
ually advanced  from  time  to  time  as  the  finances  of 
the  university  would  permit,  until  now  the  basis  for 
a  full  professor  is  three  thousand  dollars  and  the  as- 
sistants correspondingly  less.  But  although  the  policy 
of  the  university,  as  stated,  has  been  to  have  a  uniform 
basis  of  salary,  this  policy  has  been  broken  over  and 
larger  salaries  have  been  paid  in  several  instances 
during  the  last  few  years  when  it  became  necessary 
to  draw  men  to  vacancies  in  our  faculty  who  could 
command  larger  salaries  than  were  being  paid  here. 
This  discrimination  in  favor  of  a  few  professors  has 
undoubtedly  led  to  much  dissatisfaction  with  the  pres- 
ent method.  That  there  has  been  just  cause  for  com- 
plaint in  regard  to  the  present  schedule  of  salaries  I 
have  no  doubt,  as  many  of  the  professors  who  have 
been  here  for  some  time,  and  who  are  receiving  the 
regular  professor's  salary,  are  doing  just  as  good  and 
as  important  work,  and  they  themselves  are  worth  as 
much  to  the  university,  as  others  who  have  been  brought 
from  outside  at  quite  an  increase  over  the  uniform 
rate  of  compensation  for  full  professors.  The  neces- 
sity for  either  the  adoption  of  a  new  policy  in  regard 
to  the  salaries  of  professors,  or  an  entire  readjustment 
of  the  old  method,  has  been  emphasized  during  the 
past  year  by  the  demands  which  have  been  made  upon 
the  different  faculties  of  the  large  universities  and  col- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     289 

leges  of  the  country  by  new  universities.  The  desire 
and  intention  of  these  institutions  to  draw  to  their 
faculty  the  best  men  from  other  institutions  has  led  to 
their  offering  very  much  higher  salaries  than  it  has 
been  customary  to  pay — in  some  cases  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred per  cent,  higher  than  the  average  salary  paid  full 
professors.  The  demoralizing  effect  of  such  active 
competition,  with  its  resultant  high  salaries,  has  been 
equally  felt  here  at  Cornell,  and  the  strong  efforts 
made  to  draw  so  many  of  our  best  men  by  offers  of 
attractive  salaries  has  made  the  past  year  a  very  diffi- 
cult one  in  administration. 

'  *  In  the  discussion  of  this  question  of  salary  I  trust 
that  I  will  not  be  understood  as  advocating  its  adjust- 
ment as  merely  a  mercenary  or  commercial  transaction 
governed  simply  by  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand, 
but  rather  that  in  each  case  the  value  of  the  professor 
to  the  university  be  judged,  not  from  one  standpoint, 
only  such  as  his  popularity  with  the  student  body,  but 
from  every  standpoint,  and  all  of  them  taken  into  con- 
sideration in  fixing  the  amount  of  his  salary.  There 
should  be  in  the  future  more  than  there  has  been  in 
the  past,  an  endeavor  made  to  develop  a  general  policy 
of  recognition  for  faithful  work  by  professors  con- 
nected with  the  university,  which  shall  be  entirely  in- 
dependent of  any  external  stimulus.  In  fact,  I  cannot 
conceive  of  any  movement  which  would  tend  to  foster 
a  better  esprit  de  corps  in  Cornell's  faculty  than  the 
prompt  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  those  professors  or  members  of  the  teach- 
ing corps  who  from  time  to  time  show  unusual  devo- 
tion to  their  duty,  whose  work  brings  honor  and  glory 
to  Cornell,  and  who  are  signally  successful  as  teachers, 
and  in  such  cases,  if  proper  advances  in  salary  were 
made  to  such  professors  without  any  solicitation  on 
their  part,  thus  showing  to  them  that  they  will  always 


290     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

be  sure  of  fair  treatment  and  prompt  recognition  so 
long  as  they  retain  their  connection  with  Cornell  and 
maintain  a  high  standard  of  work,  it  would  tend  to 
make  it  a  very  difficult  thing  for  any  institution  to  draw 
to  another  field  any  member  of  the  faculty. ' ' 

The  report  of  the  Hon.  Charles  S.  Francis,  of  the 
class  of  1877,  presented  in  1894,  discusses  the  rel- 
ative rank  of  professors  as  bearing  upon  their  use- 
fulness. 

"  In  its  faculty  lies  the  strength  of  any  university, 
and  I  am  strongly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  it  is 
of  the  highest  expediency  on  the  part  of  Cornell  not 
only  to  win  but  to  hold  the  loyal  devotion  and  enthusi- 
astic co-operation  of  the  members  of  its  teaching  corps. 
So  far  as  I  can  judge,  it  seems  to  have  been  the  long- 
settled  policy  of  our  University  to  have  a  single  head 
in  each  of  the  several  departments  upon  whom  de- 
volves the  responsibility  for  failure,  and  to  whom,  in- 
cidentally, accrues  the  honor  of  success  in  manage- 
ment. This  plan  might  be  followed  advantageously  in 
the  direction  of  military  affairs,  where  individuality  is 
largely  sacrificed ;  it  is  believed,  however,  that  the  best 
results  cannot  be  accomplished  by  the  observance  of 
such  a  policy  in  an  institution  like  Cornell  University. 
Every  man's  individuality  should  be  utilized  to  its 
fullest  extent,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  giving  him 
the  independence  necessary  to  his  self-respect,  and,  if 
worthy,  by  putting  him  in  a  position  where  his  judg- 
ment, experience,  and  reputation  may  be  exercised  in 
the  interest  of  the  university  and  for  the  advantage 
of  his  own  department.  In  the  past,  it  is  true,  depart- 
ments have  been  divided  at  Cornell  without  loss  of 
dignity  to  those  who  were  formerly  heads  of  such  de- 
partments ;  but  the  spirit  of  progress  in  this  direction 
has  not,  in  my  judgment,  sufficiently  animated  the  gov- 
erning board.     This  can  probably  be  attributed  to  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      291 

observance  of  the  general  policy  pursued  by  the  uni- 
versity. 

"  It  is  certainly  wise  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  to 
encourage  loyalty  and  devotion  in  the  members  of  the 
faculty,  and  to  lead  them  to  expect  generous  recogni- 
tion for  educational  results  achieved  through  their 
agency.  Men  are  worth  most  in  this  world  when  their 
individuality  has  full  play.  This  would  seem  to  be 
especially  true  of  professors  in  a  university  where  the 
results  of  their  own  experience  and  ripe  scholarship 
should  receive  a  free  and  full  exercise.  Where  a  pro- 
fessor occupying  any  subordinate  position  is  practi- 
cally conducting  alone  a  subdivision  of  any  depart- 
ment on  original  lines,  and  his  service  is  deemed 
entirely  satisfactory,  I  would  advocate  a  division  of 
such  department,  and,  creating  a  new  department, 
place  him  at  its  head.  In  compliance  with  a  law  of 
nature,  all  growth  must  consist  in  enlargement,  and  the 
adoption  of  this  policy  would  result  beyond  doubt  bene- 
ficially to  the  University.  Certainly  the  conscious  dis- 
paragement which  is  inseparably  associated  with  the 
stamp  of  a  subordinate  position  would  be  avoided,  new 
life  and  added  zest  would  be  instilled  into  the  pro- 
fessor by  this  recognition  of  his  service,  the  public 
promotion  would  be  most  gratifying  to  his  ambition, 
and  inevitably  lead  to  greater  individual  effort  on  his 
part.  It  is  believed  the  reputations  of  many  profes- 
sors are  needlessly  sacrificed  to  an  unwise  system  of 
insubordination. 

''  There  is  unquestionably  a  certain  esprit  du  corps 
which  is  essential  to  effective  work  by  the  teaching 
force  of  a  great  university  like  Cornell,  and  I  would 
cultivate  it  to  the  greatest  possible  extent  by  making 
the  impression  positive  in  the  minds  of  the  members 
of  the  faculty  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  will  deal 
fairly  with  them  and,  at  the  proper  time,  recognize 


292      CORNELL  UNIVEESITY:  A  HISTORY 

effective  service.  My  sympathies,  I  must  admit,  are 
with  the  industrious,  faithful,  and  efficient  professor. 
Much  is  expected  of  him,  and  his  compensation  is  not 
in  a  majority  of  cases  commensurate  with  his  merit. 
Years  of  diligent  study  and  self-denial  are  required  of 
him  before  he  is  qualified  to  give  advanced  instruction, 
and  he  is  certainly  deserving  of  every  consideration 
that  we  can  properly  bestow  upon  him  in  the  way  of 
encouragement.  He  is  human  and  has  his  ambition; 
I  would  favor  that  sentiment,  so  far  as  it  may  be 
deemed  consistent  and  reasonable  to  do  so.  At  Har- 
vard great  departments  are  being  built  up  by  calling 
the  ablest  professors  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to 
fill  chairs  of  instruction.  All  professors  are  equal, 
and  each  professor  is  enabled  to  develop  special  fields 
of  study  in  which  he  is  particularly  interested  or  in 
which  his  gifts  mainly  lie,  thus  developing  certain 
specific  branches  in  the  great  department  and  winning 
distinction  and  reputation  for  himself,  and  thereby 
reflecting  credit  upon  the  university  with  which  he  is 
connected.  I  believe  the  subdivision  of  many  of  our 
departments  in  the  manner  suggested  would  be  in  the 
line  of  progress." 

Jared  T.  Newman,  Esq.,  of  the  class  of  1875,  in  his 
report  of  June,  1898,  said:  *'  The  conditions  of  suc- 
cessful work  are  not  produced  merely  by  the  material 
equipment  with  which  the  professor  is  supplied.  They 
are  largely  the  effect  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  he 
moves,  whether  it  be  one  of  discouragement  and  dis- 
trust, or  one  made  healthful  and  invigorating  by  the 
consciousness  of  mutual  confidence  and  sympathy  be- 
tween himself,  his  associates,  and  those  who  have  in 
charge  the  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  University. 
The  effect  upon  the  professor's  life  and  work,  pro- 
duced by  harmonious  and  satisfactory  surroundings 
and  relationships,  has  not  always,  I  fear,  received  suffi- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      293 


cient  consideration  from  the  trustees.  Sincere  re- 
spect, kindly  sympathy,  recognition  of  faithfulness  and 
of  merit,  make  him  loyal  to  the  university,  in  harmony 
with  the  men  about  him,  and  enable  him  to  do  his  best. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  led  by  the  attitude  of  the  gov- 
erning body  to  regard  its  members  as  heartless,  arbi- 
trary, or  prejudiced,  and  he  loses  confidence  in  their 
desire  to  deal  justly  with  him,  it  is  impossible  that  he 
shall  accomplish  the  best  results.  With  some  men 
these  considerations  are  of  less  weight;  to  others  they 
are  of  vital  importance  in  determining  the  character 
of  their  work.  The  words  of  Dr.  Schurman  ring  out 
so  clearly  and  emphatically  upon  this  point  that  I  want 
to  make  them  mine :  '  If  it  is  asserted  that  the  business 
of  the  college  or  university  is  to  teach  that  which  the 
average  man  may  believe,  or  that  which  is  acceptable 
to  the  university,  or  that  which  the  Board  of  Trustees 
may  assert  as  the  truth,  the  answer  must  always  be 
that  such  a  course  contravenes  the  very  principle  on 
which  the  university  was  founded;  and,  however  true 
it  may  be  that  the  majority  must  rule  in  the  body 
politic,  the  motto  of  the  university  must  always  be, 
''  One  man  with  God's  truth  is  a  majority."  It  has 
been  urged  that  the  teacher  represents  a  corporation, 
and  that  if  he  expresses  opinions  or  beliefs  contrary 
to  the  belief  of  the  majority  of  the  corporation  he 
betrays  his  trust.  What  profanation!  The  teacher 
is  the  representative  of  no  one  but  the  god  of  truth;  he 
ministers  at  the  temple  of  learning  and  scholarship; 
and  it  would  be  sacrilegious  or  worse  for  him  to  give 
out  as  true  what  he  knows  is  false,  or  to  suppress  or 
by  compliance  conceal  what  he  holds,  in  order  to  be 
more  acceptable,' 

'*  Nothing  that  I  have  said  is  to  be  construed  to 
justify  the  professor  in  his  public  utterances,  from 
failing  to  remember  that  he  is  a  part  of  the  university ; 


294      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  while  lie  may  not  be  restrained  from  fear  of  con- 
sequences to  himself,  he  should  be  influenced  by  loyalty 
to  the  institution  to  avoid  doing  wantonly  that  which 
may  bring  her  good  name  into  disrepute.  Listen  to 
the  words  of  our  own  Goldwin  Smith:  '  There  are 
limits  to  all  things,  even  to  liberty  of  opinion — at  least 
to  liberty  of  speech;  and  in  the  observance  of  those 
limits  no  surrender  or  disparagement  of  any  principle 
or  privilege  is  implied.  A  judge,  a  clergyman,  a  civil 
servant,  a  military  man,  are  all  under  some  restraint 
in  the  public  utterance  of  opinions  from  which  the  ordi- 
nary citizen  is  free.  So,  I  venture  to  think,  is  a  pro- 
fessor, or  anyone  who  regulates  the  teaching  of  a  uni- 
versity; and  this  is  not  only  when  he  is  in  his  profes- 
sorial chair  or  acting  ofificially  as  president,  but  when- 
ever it  is  possible  that  what  he  says  may  compromise 
and  injure  the  university.' 

''  I  hold  liberty  of  opinion  to  be  the  crown  of  all 
liberties,  and  the  only  sure  guardian  of  the  rest.  I 
should  even  prefer  a  despotic  government  with  liberty 
of  opinion  to  a  free  government  without  it;  and  I  be- 
lieve history  would  warrant  my  choice;  but  I  feared, 
without  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the  case  than  I 
had,  to  take  part  in  condemning  the  action  of  the 
trustees.  It  appeared  to  me  that  they  might  have  been 
moved  by  a  reasonable  anxiety,  not  merely  for  the 
financial  interests  of  the  university,  but  for  its  reputa- 
tion and  authority,  though  their  language  in  assigning 
their  grounds  laid  them  somewhat  open  to  miscon- 
struction. ' ' 

Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas,  of  the  class  of  1877,  presi- 
dent of  Bryn  Mawr,  advocated  residential  halls,  and 
also  a  high  standard  of  requirement  for  admission  to 
the  professional  schools  of  the  university.  "  Experi- 
ence in  every  residence  college,  whether  for  men  or 
women,  has  proved  that  college  dormitories  yield  an 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      295 

average  net  return  of  from  three  to  five  per  cent,  on 
the  money  invested  in  them ;  and  if  residence  in  college 
halls  has  the  educational  value  the  president  urges, — 
I  think  justly, — such  an  investment  is  surely  a  legiti- 
mate one  for  a  university  that  exists  in  order  to  give 
its  students  the  best  possible  education.  Much  of  the 
culture  and  many  of  the  associations  of  college  life  are 
to  be  obtained  only  by  residence  in  college  halls.  More, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  single  feature  of  their  college 
life,  it  is  the  ci^dlizing,  humanizing  effect  of  living  in 
college  halls  that  is  felt  in  the  graduates  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  and  distinguishes  them  from  other 
men;  and  in  America  there  is  undoubtedly  a  certain 
stamp  given  at  Harvard,  Yale,  and  Princeton  to  their 
graduates  which  is  as  yet  not  to  be  discerned  in  grad- 
uates of  non-residential  colleges.  The  University  of 
Pennsylvania  has  recognized  this,  and  it  is  universally 
admitted  that  since  the  building  of  the  college  dormi- 
tories there  has  been  a  marked  change  for  the  better 
in  the  spirit  of  the  undergraduates  of  the  university. 
Columbia  is  anxious  to  build  dormitories  as  soon  as 
the  money  can  be  secured ;  and  the  Johns  Hopkins  has 
failed  as  an  undergraduate  school  largely,  I  believe, 
because  the  men  who  would  otherwise  become  the  loyal 
sons  of  the  university  are  attracted  to  the  residential 
colleges  of  Princeton  and  Yale. 

^'  It  is  in  like  manner  to  be  regretted  that  the  new 
medical  school  of  the  university,  which  opened  in  the 
autumn  of  1898,  did  not  adopt  at  once  the  high  stand- 
ards of  the  medical  schools  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity and  of  Harvard  University.  The  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  has  from  the  first  received  only  college 
graduates,  whether  men  or  women,  who  must,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  college  degree,  present  evidence  that  they 
have  had  at  least  one  year's  lecture  work  of  four  hours 
weekly,  accompanied  by  the  same  number  of  hours  of 


296      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

laboratory  work  in  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology,  re- 
spectively, and  that  they  possess  a  reading  knowledge 
of  French  and  German.  In  and  after  1901  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School  will  require  a  college  degree  for 
admission.  As  the  generosity  of  Colonel  Payne  has 
guaranteed  Cornell  University  against  any  loss  from 
maintaining  the  medical  school  during  the  first  ten 
years,  it  would  seem  as  if  these  ten  years  would  have 
afforded  the  university  a  magnificent  opportunity  to 
organize  it  on  the  highest  possible  level.  Those  of  us 
who  are  ambitious  for  Cornell  to  take  in  every  respect 
a  leading  place  among  the  universities  of  the  United 
States  cannot  see  why  its  two  professional  schools  of 
law  and  medicine  should  voluntarily  accept  a  lower 
rank  than  those  of  Columbia,  or  the  Johns  Hopkins,  or 
Harvard.  Whatever  may  be  said  in  defense  of  making 
it  possible  for  men  and  women  who  have  been  grad- 
uated from  a  good  public  high  school  to  take  advantage 
of  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  other  schools  of  the 
university,  everyone  must  feel  that  it  is  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  community  as  a  whole  that  lawyers  and 
physicians  should  represent  the  highest  attainable  edu- 
cation. If,  as  we  should  all  admit,  there  are  profes- 
sions in  which  prolonged  study  is  of  peculiar  value,  it 
is  a  foregone  conclusion  that  the  graduates  in  law  and 
medicine  of  Cornell  University  must  in  time  come  to 
rank  far  below  the  graduates  of  Columbia,  Harvard, 
and  the  Johns  Hopkins." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  alumni  held  in  June,  1890,  a 
resolution  was  passed  establishing  an  alumni  bureau, 
the  object  of  which  should  be  to  promote  the  interests 
of  graduates  of  the  university.  It  was  proposed  to 
establish  a  central  bureau  where  the  names  of  all  stu- 
dents desiring  educational  or  other  positions  should 
be  preserved,  and  to  which  application  might  be  made 
and  information  of  vacancies  in  educational  and  pro- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      297 


fessional  positions  given.  By  means  of  this  bureau 
assistance  has  been  freely  given  to  all  applicants,  and 
every  year  a  large  number  of  students,  upon  gradua- 
tion, and  older  alumni,  have  received  positions  through 
its  instrumentality.  A  fuller  co-operation  on  the  part 
of  the  alumni  is  alone  needed  to  enable  this  bureau  to 
exert  a  beneficent  and  extended  influence  in  behalf  of 
graduates  of  the  university.  As  it  is,  its  influence  has 
been  widely  felt.  The  Alumni  Bureau  was  later  en- 
trusted to  the  registrar  of  the  university. 

The  unsatisfactory  character  of  a  mere  routine  ad- 
ministration of  this  important  office  was  felt,  and  in 
the  year  1903  a  Board  of  Recommendations  was  estab- 
lished by  the  university,  the  purposes  of  which  are 
to  aid  Cornell  graduates  to  secure  positions,  to  sys- 
tematize and  reduce  the  work  of  the  individual  pro- 
fessor in  recommendation,  and  to  give  unity,  force,  and 
dignity  to  the  university  recommendations.  A  repre- 
sentative from  every  department  of  study  embraced 
in  the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  was  appointed, 
which  constituted  the  general  committee.  An  exec- 
utive committee  of  three  is  appointed  annually  by 
the  president  of  the  university.  The  committee  regis- 
ters the  applications  of  students  for  positions  and  con- 
ducts the  correspondence  with  educational  boards. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  alumni  June  19, 1889,  the  ques- 
tion of  what  constituted  an  alumnus  of  the  university 
was  raised.  The  trustees  had  adopted  at  their  meet- 
ing on  October  24, 1888,  in  accordance  with  a  section  of 
the  charter  of  the  university,  which  required  them  to 
interpret  who  shall  constitute  the  alumni  of  the  univer- 
sity and  be  entitled  to  vote  for  alumni  trustees,  a  reso- 
lution that  all  graduates  in  any  department  with  the 
first  degree,  and  all  persons  who  have  been  admitted 
to  any  degree  higher  than  the  first  in  the  university, 
shall  be  alumni,  and  as  such  entitled  to  vote  for  alumni 


298      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

trustees.  The  executive  committee  of  the  Alumni  Asso- 
ciation issued  a  circular  asking  for  an  expression  of 
the  views  of  the  alumni,  whether  they  favored  the  or- 
dinance as  it  stood,  or  an  appeal  to  the  trustees  to  raise 
immediately  the  standard  of  admission  and  lengthen 
the  course  of  instruction  in  the  Law  School  until  it 
should  be  equivalent  to  a  four-years'  course.  In  reply, 
answers  were  received  from  660  graduates;  of  these 
594  favored  an  appeal  to  the  trustees  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  admission  and  lengthen  the  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  Law  School,  44  favored  the  ordinance  as  it 
stood,  and  26  held  conflicting  views  as  to  the  course 
to  be  pursued.  At  the  meeting  in  the  following  year, 
no  favorable  action  having  been  taken  by  the  trustees, 
the  subject  of  the  resolution  was  taken  up  and  referred 
to  the  representatives  of  the  alumni  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees  to  advocate  and  support  the  above  views. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  alumni  in  1888  a  resolution 
was  offered  in  favor  of  raising  funds  to  erect  an 
alumni  hall.  This  committee  reported  at  the  meet- 
ing on  June  18,  1890,  in  favor  of  organizing  a  Cor- 
nell Central  Club,  the  object  of  which  should  be  to 
raise  the  sum  of  $50,000  for  an  alumni  hall  to  be 
erected  on  the  university  grounds.  Ex-President 
White  had  offered  to  add  $10,000  to  the  above  sum,  in 
case  the  amount  should  be  raised  within  five  or  six 
years.  It  was  proposed  to  erect  a  building,  the  main 
hall  of  which  should  be  utilized  for  the  great  gatherings 
and  entertainments  of  the  club,  and  as  a  repository  for 
memorials  of  former  professors  and  students  of  the 
university. 

For  many  years  the  erection  of  an  alumni  hall  by  the 
alumni  has  been  earnestly  discussed,  and  considerable 
contributions  received  for  this  purpose.  The  object 
of  the  alumni  hall,  beyond  furnishing  a  room  for  the 
annual  gatherings  of  the  alumni,  has  received  mani- 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      299 

fold  discussion,  and  a  great  variety  of  views  has  been 
expressed. 

The  report  of  a  committee,  to  whom  this  matter  was 
referred  by  the  alumni  on  June  16, 1897,  was  presented 
by  the  Hon.  John  D.  Warner,  of  the  class  of  1872,  June 
15,  1898. 

It  recommended  that  the  committee  be  authorized  to 
notify  students  in  architecture  in  the  university,  who 
had  studied  there  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  two 
years,  to  submit  competitive  designs  for  a  building 
which  should  serve  the  general  purpose  of  a  club  for 
students  and  others  connected  with  the  university,  in 
a  manner  which  should  augment  the  university  social 
life,  without  undertaking  to  provide  for  a  commons  or 
for  dormitory  accommodations,  except  a  limited  num- 
ber of  chambers  for  visiting  alumni  or  other  appro- 
priate guests.  The  site  proposed  was  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  junction  of  Central  and  South  ave- 
nues. The  building  was  to  be  planned  to  face  Central 
Avenue,  and  to  have  its  entrance  on  the  east  side,  and 
to  be  of  stone  or  brick,  and  fireproof  throughout.  The 
limit  of  expense  was  placed  at  $150,000.  The  specifi- 
cations called  for  a  kitchen,  grillroom,  bowling  alleys, 
laundry,  bicycle  room,  boiler  room,  refrigerator  room, 
steward's  storeroom,  rooms  for  coal,  etc.,  in  the  base- 
ment. On  the  main  floor  there  was  to  be  a  vestibule, 
coat  rooms,  administrative  offices,  small  dining-room, 
pantry,  and  an  auditorium  containing  6,000  square  feet 
of  surface.  It  should  also  contain  a  general  lounging- 
room  with  ample  fireplaces,  writing  and  reading  room, 
billiard  room,  two  committee  rooms,  room  for  the  glee 
club,  twenty  chambers,  ten  with  bathrooms  attached, 
besides  accommodations  for  fifteen  servants.  Lava- 
tories of  commensurate  size  were  to  be  placed  con- 
veniently upon  each  floor,  and  a  ladies'  toilet  room  on 
each  of  the  two  main  floors.     Drawings  for  this  build- 


300      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ing  were  to  be  referred  to  a  jury  of  eminent  architects, 
Messrs.  Walter  Cope  of  Philadelphia,  Charles  A.  Rich 
of  New  York,  and  R.  D.  Andrews  of  Boston.  Suitable 
prizes  were  provided  for  the  best  three  sets  of  draw- 
ings. At  the  alumni  meeting  of  the  following  year, 
held  on  June  21,  1899,  a  report  of  the  result  of  a  pro- 
visional competition  among  Cornell  architects  was  pre- 
sented, and  five  sets  of  plans  were  chosen  as  the  best 
submitted,  namely,  those  of  S.  R.  Davis  of  1896,  W.  R. 
Delahanty  of  1895,  B.  S.  Hubbell  of  1893,  W.  W.  Judell 
of  1900,  and  H.  W.  Wilkinson  of  1890.  The  committee 
also  reported  that  at  their  request  the  trustees  of  the 
university  had  allotted,  as  a  site  for  the  proposed 
alumni  hall,  the  "  Prentiss  Corner,"  under  the  follow- 
ing resolution:  '^  That  the  site  of  the  Sage  Cottage 
and  the  ground  immediately  south  thereof  be,  and  the 
same  hereby  is,  set  apart  for  the  erection  thereon  of 
the  proposed  alumni  hall  and  clubhouse,  and  that  the 
said  site  be  preserved  for  that  purpose  for  three  years 
from  June,  1899,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
resolution  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  adopted  October 
29,  1896."  The  committee  was  directed  to  institute 
a  final  competition  on  terms  sufficiently  liberal  to  admit 
all  Cornell  architects,  and  submit  premiated  plan  or 
plans  with  recommendation  as  to  action.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  associate  alumni,  held  on  June  19,  1901,  the 
committee  on  the  alumni  hall  reported  that  in  the  pre- 
liminary competitions  open  to  Cornell  architects  ten 
had  qualified  for  the  final  competition.  The  jury 
recommended  as  first  in  merit  the  plan  of  Wilkinson 
and  Magonigle;  as  second  in  merit,  to  receive  an 
honorarium  of  $250,  that  of  Joannes  and  Ackerman; 
and  as  the  third  in  merit,  to  receive  an  honorarium  of 
$150,  that  of  Green  and  Wicks. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  plan  of  the  committee  as  pre- 
sented embodies  in  part  the  largest  and  most  vital 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      301 

needs  of  the  university.     The  university  has  been  with- 
out  a   center   of   academic   life.     The   students   have 
gathered  for  their  daily  work,  but  beyond  the  facilities 
furnished  by  the  university  library  and  the  reading 
rooms  in  the  various  colleges,  the  gloomy  and  unattract- 
ive facilities  offered  by  laboratories  and  shops,  there 
is  no  general  center  of  life  in  the  student  world.    The 
university  has  naturally  suffered  on  this  account.     The 
segregation  of  students  in  chapter  houses  has  natur- 
ally been  an  obstacle  to  a  united  university  life.     The 
great  need  of  the  university  is  a  student  clubhouse^ 
with  library,  committee  rooms,  lounging  rooms,  dining- 
hall,  and  smaller  rooms  for  private  dinners,  the  train- 
ing table,  and  halls  sufficiently  large  for  minor  student 
gatherings.    A  clubhouse  conducted  upon  something 
of  the  order  and  refinement  of  a  city  club,  with  reading 
rooms,  post  office,  and  rooms  for  billiards,  cards,  and 
games,  would  reconstitute  the  university  life.     Such  a 
building,  with  bedrooms  and  sitting-rooms,  held  for 
the  use  of  the  alumni  upon  their  visits  to  Ithaca,  would 
afford  a  unifying  and  refining  influence  of  priceless- 
value.     It  should  also  furnish  meals,  like  the  Harvard 
Memorial  Hall,  to  students  who  spend  the  entire  day 
in  work  upon  the  hill,  in  libraries,  and  in  laboratories. 

A  fellows'  hall  for  the  use  of  unmarried  professors, 
instructors,  and  graduate  students  would  contribute 
more  to  give  an  esprit  du  corps  to  the  members  of  the 
teaching  staff,  who  are  now  without  homes,  than  any 
other  building.  Such  an  edifice  would  reproduce  m 
part  the  accommodations  of  the  English  colleges  with 
their  halls  of  residence.  It  would  benefit  the  graduate 
alumni  connected  with  the  university  and  those  resi- 
dent in  the  city. 

About  sixty  thousand  dollars  have  been  raised  for  an 
alumni  hall.  A  delay  in  completing  the  amount  neces- 
sary has  been  due  to  the  appeals  for  the  athletic  field. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE    CAMPUS    AND    UNIVERSITY    BUILDINGS 

THE  university  campus  was  originally 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Fall  Creek 
road  and  on  the  south  by  President's  Ave- 
nue. The  square,  lying  between  this  avenue 
and  Cascadilla  Creek,  and  between  East  and  West  ave- 
nues, containing  fifty  acres,  forming  now  the  most 
beautiful  part  of  the  university  grounds,  and  having 
upon  it  Boardman  Hall,  the  Chapel,  the  Sage  College, 
the  armory,  the  society  halls,  and  the  professors '  cot- 
tages along  Central  Avenue,  was  obtained  by  pur- 
chase in  1872.  By  later  purchases  the  university  land 
was  extended  on  the  north  to  Fall  Creek,  and  on  the 
south  across  Cascadilla  Creek.  Mr.  Cornell  wisely 
saw  the  necessity  of  extending  the  university  limits 
beyond  the  space  included  between  the  Fall  Creek  and 
Cascadilla  Gorge.  He  recognized  that  the  land  to  the 
south  should  be  acquired  for  university  purposes.  As 
early  as  November  28,  1866,  he  wrote  that  the  Giles 
Place,  embracing  the  region  between  Cascadilla  Ravine 
and  Dryden  Road,  now  occupied  by  the  extension  of 
Huestis  Street,  ought  to  belong  to  the  university. 

' '  Cascadilla  Place  will  make  a  fine  location,  and  the 
building  will  be  well  adapted  for  a  female  department 
of  the  university.  If  Giles  and  Curran  would  name 
a  fair  price  for  their  property  to  the  university,  and 
the  stockholders  of  Cascadilla  Place  would  donate  their 
stock  when  paid  up  to  the  university  on  condition  that 
the  university  would  take  the  property,  complete  the 
^building,  and  eventually  establish  a  female  department 

302 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      303 

there,  but  in  the  first  instance  use  the  buildings  in  con- 
nection with  other  temporary  accommodations  to  com- 
mence the  studies  in  the  university — then  I  should  be- 
in  favor  of  the  university  taking  and  finishing  the- 
building  and  would  recommend  the  trustees  to  do  so. 

* '  The  first  step,  however,  must  be  taken  by  the  stock- 
holders of  Cascadilla  Place.  I  should  rather  see  that 
institution  finished  as  planned  and  made  a  success,  as 
I  know  it  would  be,  but  as  faint  heart  never  won  fair 
ladies,  and  weak  knees  never  omit  to  tremble  when, 
there  is  an  opportunity  to  do  so,  it  may  be  that  the 
citizens  of  Ithaca  will  not  subscribe  the  stock  requisite 
to  carry  forward  that  work;  and,  better  than  have  the 
work  stop  and  the  walls  stared  at  as  a  laughing  stock 
of  folly  and  irresolution,  I  say  donate  it  to  the  Cornell 
University  in  behalf  of  the  ladies  of  Ithaca  for  the 
interest  of  female  education.  I  will  pay  up  my  stock 
and  donations,  and  give  it  for  the  above  noble  object, 
if  others  decide  to  do  the  same." 

The  original  gift  embraced  two  hundred  and  seven 
acres.  The  university  domain  now  contains  about 
five  hundred  acres.  The  university  possessed  only  a 
right  of  way  over  the  newly  constructed  road  which 
now  constitutes  Central  Avenue. 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  held 
in  Ithaca  on  the  5th  of  September,  1865,  a  committee  on 
buildings  was  appointed,  which  was  authorized  to 
select  a  site  for  the  university.  The  location  chosen 
was  at  that  time  an  uneven  shelf  of  the  hill  which  rose 
to  the  east  of  the  city.  Upon  the  level  ground,  where 
the  armory  now  stands,  and  on  both  sides  of  what  is 
now  Central  Avenue,  on  the  south,  was  an  extensive 
orchard,  and  a  second  orchard,  in  the  vicinity  of  a 
small  farmhouse,  existed  on  the  northern  portion  of 
the  grounds,  south  of  the  Sibley  College.  A  consider- 
able depression  existed  between  Morrill  and  McGraw 


304     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

halls,  and  also  between  McGraw  and  "White  halls.    To 
the  north  of  White  Hall  the  ground  rose  abruptly, 
almost  to  the  height  of  the  present  second  story.    This 
land  constituted  the  Hon.  Ezra  Cornell's  farm  at  the 
opening  of  the  university.    From  it  a  view  extends 
following  the  winding  lines  of  the  valley  to  the  south- 
west, and  over  the  shores  and  waters  of  Lake  Cayuga 
for  many  miles  to  the  north.    Westward,  across  the 
valley,  rises  a  lofty  line  of  hills  covered  with  orchards 
and  vineyards,  beautiful  in  springtime  with  showers 
of  blossoms,  and  at  all  times  exhibiting  an  endless  play 
of  light  and  shade.     Its  square  fields  of  forty  acres 
are  remnants  of  the  early  military  survey  of  the  state. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees  held  March  14,  1866, 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  placed  at  the  ser- 
vice of  the  building  committee,  a  sum  equal  to  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's entire  gift  in  money,  which  certainly  was  not 
available  from  the  endowment  fund  nor  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  government  grant,  the  use  of  which  was 
to  be   "  inviolably   appropriated  to   the   endowment, 
support,  and  maintenance  ' '  of  the  university,  and  ' '  no 
portion  of  which  fund  nor  of  the  interest  thereof  was 
to  be  applied  directly  or  indirectly,  under  any  pretense 
whatever,  to  the  purchase,  erection,  preservation,  or 
repair  of  any  building  or  buildings."     In  the  original 
law  of  Congress  it  was  enacted  that  every  state,  within 
five  years  from  the  date  of  the  passage  of  the  act, 
should  provide  for  at  least  one  college;  and  in  the 
charter  of  the  university  it  was  required  that  within 
two  years  provision  should  be  made  satisfactory  to 
the  Regents  in  respect  to  buildings,  fixtures,  and  ar- 
rangements.   Few  universities  have  had  a  fairer  op- 
portunity to  make  all  their  buildings  models  of  an  in- 
telligent taste  in  art.     The  future  of  the  university 
was  from  the  first  assured.    Unfortunately,  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  new  university,  in  its  initial  and  most 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     305 


important  features,  was  entrusted  to  a  local  architect 
in  a  neighboring  city,  unfamiliar  with  the  finest  results 
of  collegiate  architecture,  and  apparently  unconscious 
of  the  new  direction  of  art  in  the  United  States.    A 
picturesque  grouping  of  buildings  under  a  skilful  land- 
scape gardener  was  possible,  instead  of  the  traditional 
arrangement  of  three  buildings  in  a  row,  where,  as  in 
this   case,   the  architectural   front  differed  from  the 
actual.     The  eminent  landscape  gardener  whose  genius 
has  been  manifested  in  the  finest  work  in  his  depart- 
nient  in  America,  and  has  been  the  admiration  of  for- 
eign  visitors    in   two    international   exhibitions,    Mr. 
Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  was  so  impressed  with  the 
influence  which  the  national  system  of  colleges  should 
exert  upon  our  entire  industrial  population  and  upon 
our  educational  life,  that  he  published  several  papers 
upon  how  such  institutions  might  meet,  not  only  prac- 
tical demands,  but  those  of  a  genuine  and  refined  art 
taste.      In    emphasizing    this    side    of    the    proposed 
national    scientific    schools,    he    stated:     ''A    similar 
scheme  of  education  was  never  before  proposed  to  the 
mind  of  man  in  this  country  or  any  other.    Why  not  set 
ourselves  about  it  like  men,  and  institute  such  means, 
and  only  such  means,  as  are  adapted  to  our  ends?  " 
Mr.    Olmsted's   counsel   in   the   arrangement    of    the 
grounds  and  the  location  of  the  buildings  was  invoked, 
but  as  he  differed  from  the  traditional  views,  the  old 
order  prevailed,  and  the  opportune  moment  was  lost. 
A  conunittee  was  appointed  to  report  on  the  build- 
ings to  be  erected,  and  two  of  the  committee,  in  com- 
pany with  an  experienced  architect,  visited  some  of  the 
most  noted  collegiate  buildings  in  this  and  neighboring 
states ;  they  also  held  consultations,  and  corresponded 
with  several  gentlemen  who  were  familiar  with  univer- 
sity architecture.    As  a  result  of  these  investigations, 
the  conunittee  agreed  upon  the  following  report,  which 


306      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

was  presented  at  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  held  on 
March  4,  1866 : 

''  As  regards  style  and  material,  that  while  they 
should  be  tasteful,  substantial,  and  architecturally  cor- 
rect, they  should  be  free  from  extravagance  and  from 
all  architectural  features  not  having  a  basis  of  useful 
purpose. 

*'  As  to  disposition  of  buildings,  that  the  mistake  be 
avoided  of  connecting  all  in  a  single  large  and  pre- 
tentious edifice;  but  that  hazard  be  diminished  and  con- 
venience as  well  as  architectural  effect  increased  by 
erecting  separate  buildings  each  for  its  own  specific 
purpose.  It  is  believed  that  such  buildings  can  be 
grouped  so  as  to  present  an  appearance  far  more  im- 
pressive than  any  high  structure  which  it  is  within  our 
power  to  build. 

' '  As  to  the  progress  of  the  work,  that  however  com- 
plete the  plans  which  may  be  adopted,  the  buildings  be 
erected  from  time  to  time  to  meet  the  growth  of  the 
university,  and  that  only  so  much  be  done  now  as  may 
be  demanded  by  the  undoubted  wants  of  the  university 
on  beginning  its  operations. 

* '  The  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  those  build- 
ings required  by  the  university  in  its  full  scope  are 
mainly  as  follows :  Dormitories,  lecture  and  recitation 
rooms,  laboratories,  library,  museum,  public  hall  or 
chapel,  farm  buildings,  workshops,  professors'  houses, 
and  probably,  eventually,  an  observatory. 

"  As  to  the  first  of  these  classes,  the  dormitories,  the 
committee  generally  admit  their  necessity  reluctantly. 
Experience  has  shown  that  better  discipline  can  be 
maintained  without  them;  that  students  separated 
from  each  other  and  brought  in  small  groups  under  the 
restraints  of  lodging  with  quiet  families,  are  generally 
more  easily  managed  than  when  brought  together  in 
large  numbers  under  a  single  roof,  but  the  circum- 


COENELL  UNIVER-SITY:  A  HISTORY      307 

— — — ■;> 

stances  of  this  case  have  left  the  committee  no  choice. 
The  university  pror-ertj^  is  so  remote  from  the  village 
of  Ithaca,  and  at, Such  a  distance  above  it,  that  some 
provision  must  -l)e  made  for  the  lodging  of  students 
upon  the  university  grounds.  Moreover,  in  an  institu- 
tion where  the  experiment  is  to  be  fully  tried  of  allow- 
ing your,g  men  to  engage  in  agricultural  and  mechan- 
ical pun  >Ats  in  connection  with  their  studies,  it  seems 
a  necessity  that  they  should  be  lodged  where  they  can 
easily  pass  from  one  sort  of  labor  to  the  other. 

"  They  are,  moreover,  of  the  opinion  that  the  style 
of  warming  by  open  fireplaces  has  the  advantage  of 
making  the  students'  rooms  more  attractive,  which  is 
one  great  point  gained  in  college  discipline. 

''  The  committee  therefore  recommend  the  erection 
of  two  dormitories  upon  this  plan  for  about  sixty  stu- 
dents, each  to  be  ready  at  the  organizations  of  depart- 
ments and  classes  in  the  university.  The  buildings  to 
be  so  constructed  also  that,  if  the  institution  is  ever 
able  to  do  away  with  the  dormitory  system,  the  stu- 
dents' rooms  can  be  connected  into  lecture  rooms  for 
recitations,  lectures,  and  general  college  purposes. 

''  As  to  lecture  and  recitation  rooms,  the  committee 
believe  that  those  necessary  for  general  purposes  can 
best  be  placed  in  a  central  division  of  each  dormitory 
building.  They  are  thus  easy  of  access,  and  have  the 
additional  advantage  of  separating  the  students  of  one 
division  of  a  dormitory  from  those  in  the  other.  The 
mode  of  doing  this  will  be  seen  upon  examination  of 
the  general  plan  accompanying  this  report. 

''As  to  size,  they  should  be  of  such  dimensions  as 
to  accommodate  different  classes,  ranging  from  two 
hundred  students  down  to  twenty  or  thirty. 

"  As  to  laboratories,  the  university  will  undoubtedly, 
at  an  early  period,  be  obliged  to  erect  a  separate  build- 
ing on  a  large  scale.     Into  the  department  of  chem- 


308      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

istry  nearly  all  tlie  branches  of  the  nniversity  con- 
verge. It  is  common  to  the  departments  of  agricul- 
ture, mechanic  arts,  mining,  civil  eLigineering,  and  gen- 
eral science.  The  institution  must  possess  one  of  the 
largest  and  best,  and,  if  possible,  the  li?rgest  and  best 
laboratory  in  the  country.  It  should  be  constructed 
under  the  guidance  of  the  head  of  the  department  of 
chemistry.  But  for  the  present,  the  commlJtfee  do  not 
recommend  any  separate  laboratory  building.  It  is 
believed  that  temporary  accommodations  can  be  fur- 
nished in  the  basements  of  the  dormitories,  or  in  some 
of  the  lecture  rooms,  until  it  be  more  clearly  seen 
what  are  to  be  the  demands  of  the  chemical  depart- 
ment. 

''  As  to  library,  a  building  is  clearly  necessary  and 
on  a  large  scale.  Without  a  large  and  well-selected 
library  the  Cornell  University  can  never  take  any  high 
rank  among  the  institutions  of  the  country,  nor  can  it 
attract  to  itself  the  best  men  for  instructors.  With 
such  a  library,  and  with  provision  enabling  it  to  keep 
pace  with  the  advance  of  science,  the  university  has  a 
powerful  center  of  attraction  for  all  men  of  thought 
and  education  who  are  not  tied  down  to  cities,  and  has 
the  means  not  only  of  popularizing  knowledge  but  of 
increasing  it.  Eventually  there  must  be  a  large,  thor- 
oughly fitted  building  for  library  purposes,  but  at 
present  it  is  believed  that  one  building  can  be  made  to 
suffice  for  the  library  and  for  the  museum. 

'*  That  the  museum  is  not  less  necessary  than  the 
library  will  be  seen  by  anyone  who  considers  the  scope 
of  the  proposed  institution.  In  it  must  be  gathered 
collections  of  implements,  of  grains,  of  grasses,  and 
of  various  natural  and  artificial  products  bearing  upon 
the  department  of  agriculture.  There,  too,  should  be 
the  collection  of  models  and  machines  bearing  upon  the 
department  of  the  mechanic  arts.    The  university  must 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      309 

also  have  a  place  for  her  noble  collection  in  geology, 
for  collections  in  mineralogy,  zoology,  and  botany. 
Great  space  will  eventually  be  required  for  these,  but 
at  first  they  can  be  accommodated  in  one  building  with 
the  library. 

''  The  museum  and  library  building  should  be  a 
single  oblong  structure  about  eighty  feet  in  length  by 
forty  feet  in  breadth  (or  perhaps  one  hundred  feet  by 
fifty  feet).  It  should  be  in  its  interior  all  thrown  into 
one  great  room  without  division  walls.  It  should  be 
surrounded  by  at  least  two,  and  probably  three,  very 
broad  galleries,  arranged  on  some  general  plan  similar 
to  that  adopted  by  the  Historical  Society  in  New  York 
or  the  Agricultural  Museum  in  Albany.  This  building 
the  committee  recommend  to  be  erected  at  the  same 
time  with  the  dormitories. 

''  The  library  building  to  be  ultimately  erected  should 
correspond  in  size  and  general  appearance  and  fire- 
proof character  with  the  museum  building. 

''  The  public  hall  or  chapel  will  also  be  eventually 
required.  It  should  have  one  division, — say  a  first 
floor, — to  accommodate  meetings  of  the  students. 

*'  As  to  workshops,  a  building  already  exists  which 
it  is  believed  can  be  obtained  and  which  will  answer 
a  temporary  purpose.  The  committee  recommend  that 
no  further  plan  for  such  a  building  be  adopted  before 
the  plan  of  instruction  in  science  as  applied  to  in- 
dustry is  more  fully  developed. 

"  As  to  professors'  houses,  the  committee  are  agreed 
that  provision  must  be  made  upon  the  grounds  for  at 
least  four.  It  is  believed  that  they  can  be  made  to 
return  a  fair  interest  upon  their  expense.  It  is  also 
believed  that  in  organizing  the  institution  they  will 
prove  immediately  worth  more  than  their  cost.  If,  in 
calling  professors,  we  are  able  to  offer  neat  and  com- 
fortable houses  not  far  from  the  field  of  labor,  much 


310     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


smaller  salaries  will  often  suffice  than  when  these  gen- 
tlemen are  asked  to  leave  comfortable  homes,  to  rent 
houses  from  year  to  year,  illy-constructed,  inconven- 
ient, and  some  distance  from  the  institution.  The  com- 
mittee are  aware  of  at  least  one  very  strong  example 
directly  proving  this.  Such  houses  should  be  com- 
fortable and  well  built,  and  in  style  such  as  to  form 
part  of  the  general  plan,  and  should  come  in  as  a 
feature  of  the  grouping. 

' '  As  to  an  observatory  building,  while  the  committee 
examined  some  of  the  principal  buildings  in  the  coun- 
try, they  are  not  prepared  to  offer  any  suggestions  at 
present,  but  they  hope  that  eventually  an  observatory 
will  be  built  which  will  add  greatly  to  the  advance  of 
science. 

' '  As  regards  the  material  to  be  used  in  the  buildings, 
the  board  will  remember  that  a  resolution  was  passed 
at  the  last  meeting  declaring  that  stone  should  be  used. 
The  committee  do  not  as  yet  see  any  reason  for  differ- 
ing with  the  majority  of  the  trustees.  In  buildings  like 
these,  which  are  to  be  regarded  as  public  buildings,  the 
seat  of  probably  the  greatest  educational  institution  of 
the  greatest  commonwealth  in  the  union,  it  seems  ap- 
propriate that  the  material  should  be  of  the  most  noble 
and  the  most  enduring.  The  committee  are  therefore 
still  in  favor  of  using  stone,  but  they  ask  to  be  allowed 
to  re-examine  the  question  in  regard  to  economy  and 
in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  stone  at  our  command. 
If  so  allowed  they  will,  at  an  early  day,  make  a  more 
thorough  examination  than  they  have  yet  been  enabled 
to  do. 

' '  The  committee  would  recommend  that  they  be  em- 
powered to  select  some  competent  person  at  a  monthly 
salary  to  be  agreed  upon  by  the  executive  committee, 
to  make  a  survey  of  so  much  of  the  grounds  as  may 
be  necessary,  and  to  superintend  the  grading  and  gen- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      311 

eral  arrangement  of  the  grounds  immediately  about 
the  buildings." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  from  this  report  the  source 
of  many  facts  of  the  earlier  buildings;  the  provision 
by  which  the  lecture  rooms  were  placed  in  the  center 
of  the  dormitories,  in  order  to  separate  ' '  the  students 
of  one  division  in  the  dormitories  from  those  in  the 
other  ' ' ;  also,  the  arrangement  of  the  museums  with 
wide  galleries,  placed  one  above  the  other;  the  pro- 
vision for  professors '  houses  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing an  academic  community,  as  a  part  of  the  orig- 
inal plan.  The  necessity  of  dormitories  was  reluc- 
tantly admitted,  owing  to  the  distance  of  the  university 
from  the  town. 

Owing  to  the  limited  time  in  which  all  preparations 
for  the  accommodation  and  inauguration  of  the  new 
university  had  to  be  made,  measures  were  at  once  taken 
to  erect  the  necessary  buildings.  At  the  third  meeting 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  held  in  Albany,  March  4, 
1866,  a  report  of  the  building  committee  was  presented, 
and  it  was  voted  to  commence  the  necessary  building 
or  buildings  at  the  earliest  day  consistent  with  the  in- 
terests of  the  university.  The  committee  was  author- 
ized to  procure,  by  purchase  or  otherwise,  any  building 
or  buildings  or  land  needed  near  the  proposed  loca- 
tion of  Cornell  University  suitable  for  the  purposes 
and  uses  of  the  university.  Work  seems  to  have 
been  begun  at  once,  for  at  the  following  meeting 
of  the  trustees,  held  in  Ithaca,  October  21,  1866, 
a  contract  for  the  building  under  construction  was 
mentioned.  In  the  records  of  the  time  we  find  the 
architecture  of  the  new  building  described  as  ' '  Italian 
Renaissance."  The  boldness  of  this  euphemism  will 
be  the  admiration  of  future  students  of  art.  This 
building  was  designed  mainly  for  a  dormitory  for  the 
accommodation  of  students,  which  the  city  could  not  at 


312      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

that  time  furnish.  The  dormitory  system  seems  to 
have  been  from  the  first  regarded  with  disapprobation, 
and  only  adopted  reluctantly,  to  provide  for  the  needs 
of  the  university  at  its  opening.  It  appears  from  the 
records  that  at  this  time  a  building  4  stories  high 
and  165  feet  long  by  50  feet  wide,  with  a  basement, 
which  had  been  begun  in  August,  was  now  so  far  ad- 
vanced as  to  insure  the  immediate  roofing  of  one-third 
of  the  building  and  the  probable  covering  of  one-third 
more,  possibly  of  the  whole  before  winter,  thereby 
enabling  the  work  of  finishing  the  interior  to  go  on, 
and  insure  completion  for  use  in  the  coming  summer. 
It  is  apparent  that  a  purpose  existed  at  this  time  to 
open  the  university  in  the  fall  of  1867.  Thus  the  south 
university  building,  later  called  Morrill  Hall,  came  into 
being.  On  February  13,  1867,  the  authority  was  given 
to  erect  a  second  building  which  should  be  a  duplicate 
of  the  first,  with  rooms  in  the  central  division  for  the 
use  of  the  faculty.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
provision  made  to  meet  the  most  essential  feature  of 
a  university,  a  building  mainly  for  lecture  rooms, 
museums,  and  laboratories.  The  construction  of  this 
building  was  delayed,  for  a  vote  passed  November  11, 
1869,  provided  that  it  be  opened  as  soon  as  students 
from  the  town  should  be  found  to  fill  it. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1868,  Mr.  John  McGraw  pro- 
posed the  erection  of  a  fireproof  building  suitable  for 
the  needs  of  the  university.  This  building  (the  pres- 
ent McGraw  Hall)  was  begun  soon  after,  and  was  de- 
signed to  accommodate  the  library,  the  collections  of 
natural  history,  and  to  afford  lecture  rooms  for  the 
departments  of  geology,  anatomy,  and  physiology. 
The  corner  stone  of  McGraw  Hall  was  laid  at  3  p.  m., 
June  30,  1869,  with  an  address  by  that  noble  Quaker 
and  friend  of  the  university,  Mr.  John  Stanton  Gould. 
The  architecture  was  said  to  be  ''  Florentine  with  a 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      313 

French  roof."  The  building  was  originally  designed 
to  contain  an  audience  room  which  would  accommodate 
1500  people  and  would  cost  $80,000.  The  large  cen- 
tral hall  of  this  building  was  frequently  spoken  of  in 
the  early  records  as  the  prospective  "  chapel." 

In  the  fall  of  1869  a  building  to  be  devoted  mainly  to 
the  needs  of  the  chemical  and  physical  departments 
was  begun,  although  there  is  no  record  of  its  early 
history.  This  was  the  original  chemical  building  which 
stood  west  of  the  present  building  for  dairy  husbandry. 
It  was  intended  to  be  temporary  and  was  of  wood,  but 
admirably  designed  to  meet  the  needs  for  which  it  was 
erected,  and  it  remained  standing  until  within  a  few 
years. 

At  the  same  time  the  need  of  residences  for  pro- 
fessors was  being  seriously  felt.  Most  of  the  students 
and  faculty  were  accommodated  within  the  gloomy  and 
disagreeable  walls  of  Cascadilla.  The  city  itself  at 
this  time  contained  no  more  residences  than  were 
needed  for  its  own  population.  On  Januaiy  24,  1870, 
the  lease  of  land  to  professors,  which  would  enable 
them  to  build  upon  the  university  ground,  was  author- 
ized. This  important  action  has  contributed  more 
than  anything  else,  perhaps,  to  give  the  university  a 
unique  character  by  establishing  upon  its  grounds  a 
university  colony.  It  was  proposed  at  this  time  to 
erect  a  residence  for  Professor  Goldwin  Smith  on  the 
half-lot  additional  assigned  to  Professor  Fiske  and 
connected  with  his  residence.  The  erection  of  the 
president's  house  by  President  White  was  originally 
proposed  at  the  time  of  the  offer  of  Mr.  McGraw  to 
erect  the  hall  which  bears  his  name.  The  first  resi- 
dences for  professors  upon  the  university  grounds 
were  those  of  Professors  Law  and  Fiske.  The  earliest 
leases  to  professors  of  sites  upon  the  campus,  made 
in  1871,  provided  that  in  case  of  the  death  or  resigna- 


314      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

tion  of  the  owner,  the  university  should  purchase  the 
residence  at  an  appraised  value,  to  be  determined  by 
judges,  one  of  whom  to  be  appointed  by  the  owner  and 
one  by  the  university.  In  case  of  disagreement  re- 
specting the  value  of  the  property,  the  two  appraisers 
agreed  upon  the  choice  of  a  third.  At  the  same  time, 
in  order  that  the  residences  erected  upon  the  campus 
should  be  dignified  and  worthy  of  the  site  which  they 
occupied,  it  was  provided  that  all  plans  for  the  same 
should  be  submitted  to  the  executive  committee  for 
approval.  Later,  the  erection  of  one  or  two  cottages 
at  a  very  large  cost  called  the  attention  of  the  trustees 
to  the  importance  of  limiting  the  obligation  which  the 
university  should  be  under  in  the  purchase  of  such 
houses.  At  that  time,  1881,  the  resources  of  the  uni- 
versity were  limited,  and  there  was  a  possibility  that 
at  any  time  a  large  number  of  cottages  might  be 
thrown  upon  the  market  so  as  to  tax  seriously  the  uni- 
versity. A  new  clause  was  therefore  inserted  in  all 
leases  subsequent  to  this  time,  that  the  university 
should  not  be  obliged  to  pay  over  five  thousand  dollars 
for  such  residences.  This  limitation  was  placed  in  the 
leases  for  the  protection  of  the  university  and  not  with 
a  view  to  securing  the  property  of  professors  at  less 
than  the  value  which  such  cottages  would  have  for  sale 
to  others.  This  interpretation  of  the  contract  was 
adopted  consistently  and  uniformly  for  more  than 
twenty  years.  It  is  obvious  that,  under  the  contract, 
two  cases  may  arise :  one  in  which  the  sale  of  a  residence 
is  in  the  interest  and  for  the  convenience  of  a  pro- 
fessor, and  the  second  in  which  the  site  of  such  resi- 
dence is  necessary  for  the  university.  In  the  former 
case  the  owner  creates  the  condition  of  sale,  and  in  the 
latter  the  university.  It  is  therefore  a  fair  consid- 
eration whether,  in  all  such  cases  where  the  issue  is 
created  by  the  university,  it  should  not  follow  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      315 

precedent  established  by  those  who  originally  drafted 
the  contract  and  which  has  been  uniformly  followed 
from  that  date  to  the  present  time.  President  Schur- 
man,  in  his  report  of  1892-93,  wrote: 

* '  It  is  an  ideal  arrangement  that  enables  professors 
to  have  homes  on  the  campus.  In  reach  of  the  urban 
advantages  of  the  city  of  Ithaca,  they  also  enjoy  the 
rural  delights  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  ro- 
mantic situations  in  the  world.  It  is,  besides,  some- 
thing of  an  offset  to  the  low  scale  of  salaries  which 
the  board  are  not  yet  in  a  position  to  raise  (though 
an  advance  should  be  the  first  charge  on  an  increase 
in  income)  that  the  university  gives  the  professors  the 
free  use  of  the  lots,  which,  at  rates  for  adjoining  prop- 
erty, are  worth  two  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and  also 
furnishes  water  without  charge.  Clearly  these  per- 
quisites should  not  be  taken  away  without  a  rise  in 
salaries." 

Of  this  feature  of  the  university  grounds,  as  origi- 
nally conceived  by  President  White,  and  one  of  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's  favorite  thoughts  for  several  years  before  the 
university  was  opened,  an  alumnus  wrote : 

''  A  unique  feature  of  this  university  has  been  the 
academic  life,  which  exists  here  in  a  perfection  not  per- 
haps otherwise  realized  in  any  university  in  this  coun- 
try. Strangers  from  abroad  and  educators  are  always 
delightfully  impressed  by  the  university  atmosphere 
which  exists  upon  the  campus.  One  of  the  most  de- 
lightful features  associated  with  a  position  in  the  uni- 
versity faculty  is  the  cordial  social  relations  which 
have  been  possible  during  the  last  thirty  years  through 
the  residence  of  professors  in  a  single  community. 
Every  effort  should  be  made  to  perpetuate  this  unique 
and  delightful  feature. 

' '  Any  action  which  shall  tend  to  unsettle  the  tenure 
of  property  upon  the  campus  will  disturb  and  make 


316      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

permanently  impossible  the  realization  of  what  should 
be  a  distinct  feature  in  the  development  of  the  univer- 
sity. All  values  of  the  present  residences  of  the  pro- 
fessors will  be  impaired  by  the  dissemination  of  such 
views  should  they  suggest  a  permanent  change  of  atti- 
tude in  this  respect.  In  the  new  plans  it  is  clearly  de- 
sirable that  a  certain  part  of  the  university  campus 
should  be  set  apart  for  the  residences  of  members  of 
the  faculty,  and  such  portion  should  be  as  fixed  and  as 
inviolable  as  that  part  which  is  provided  for  dormi- 
tories and  for  the  occupation  of  students. 

"  Many  of  the  professors  are  responsible  for  build- 
ings and  apparatus,  and  it  would  be  impossible  for  them 
to  exercise  with  equal  advantage  to  the  university  this 
important  function  if  this  feature  in  university  life 
were  abandoned.  In  the  reception  of  lecturers  and 
guests  of  the  university,  and  in  the  entertainment  of 
students,  it  is  desirable  in  the  highest  degree  that  the 
professors  should  reside  upon  the  university  campus, 
where  it  is  possible  for  them  to  receive  and  entertain 
not  merely  their  colleagues,  but  the  members  of  the 
student  body.  For  this  reason  we  deprecate  any 
lessening  of  the  tie  which  binds  the  professors  to  the 
campus. 

''  The  original  plan  has  been  fruitful  of  the  best 
results,  and  should  be  retained  even  if  other  proposed 
features  are  abandoned.  The  tenure  of  possession 
which  the  professors  occupying  residences  upon  the 
campus  have  enjoyed  has  always  been  liable  to  be  in- 
terrupted at  any  time,  whenever  the  land  which  they 
possess  should  be  needed  for  university  purposes. 
Such  tenure,  which  may  be  terminated  at  a  brief  notice, 
is  different  from  that  granted  to  the  various  frater- 
nities, whose  leases  contemplate  a  possession  of  fifty 
years,  which  may  be  renewed  for  additional  periods  of 
twenty-five  years  each. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      317 


' '  Thus,  those  whose  immediate  and  personal  interest 
is  chiefly  concerned  are  subject  to  an  uncertain  tenure 
and  to  dispossession  at  any  moment.  While  this  has 
not  worked  hardships  in  the  past,  it  militates  against 
the  highest  development  of  what  seems  an  essential 
and  most  desirable  feature  in  the  future  development 
of  the  university.  The  members  of  the  faculty  should 
be  attracted  so  far  as  is  practicable  to  the  campus,  and 
among  the  most  delightful  memories  of  students  will 
be  the  pleasant  social  relations  which  students  and  pro- 
fessors attain  through  this  means." 

President  White  proposed  on  June  21,  1871,  to  erect 
a  president's  house  for  his  own  occupation,  which, 
upon  his  resignation,  should  become  the  property  of 
the  university  for  the  use  of  the  president.  The  house 
thus  begun  was  planned  by  one  of  the  earliest  students' 
of  the  university  interested  in  architecture,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Miller,  who  has  since  been  the  architect  of  the  Sage 
Library,  the  College  of  Law,  and  Stimson  Hall.  The 
president's  house  was  not  completed  until  the  summer 
of  1873,  President  AYliite  retaining  his  residence  in 
Syracuse  for  the  first  five  years  after  the  opening  of 
the  university,  and  occupying  rooms  in  Cascadilla 
Place  during  the  occasion  of  his  visits  to  Ithaca. 

No  provision  had  yet  been  made  for  suitable  ac- 
commodations for  the  department  of  mechanic  arts 
when,  in  the  summer  of  1870,  the  Hon.  Hiram  Sibley 
offered  to  erect  a  building  for  that  purpose.  On  the 
9th  of  August  a  contract  was  made  for  its  erection. 
The  Sibley  building  as  originally  planned  was  designed 
to  be  one  story  in  height  with  a  French  roof.  Mr. 
Sibley  consented  to  increase  the  height  of  the  building 
by  one  story  on  a  pledge  from  President  White  to 
expend  a  sum  equal  to  the  cost  of  the  extra  story,  in 
apparatus,  models,  etc.,  for  the  departments  of  civil 
and  mechanical  engineering. 


318      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Upon  the  acceptance  of  the  report  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  consider  the  subject  of  female  education 
in  the  university,  February  13,  1872,  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  prepare  plans  for  the  Sage  College. 
These  were  drawn  up  by  Professor  Charles  Babcock, 
and  the  building  remains  one  of  the  most  simple  and 
dignified  in  architecture,  and  one  of  the  most  satisfac- 
tory of  all  structures  on  the  university  grounds.  This 
building  was  erected  during  the  year  1872-73,  and  for- 
mally opened  for  the  use  of  students  at  the  opening  of 
the  fall  term,  1874. 

On  May  7,  1872,  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  the 
Sage  Chapel,  in  accordance  with  the  offer  of  the  Hon. 
Henry  W.  Sage,  was  authorized,  and  on  the  following 
morning  the  executive  committee  went  in  a  body  to 
the  grounds  of  the  university  and  formally  selected 
its  present  location.  The  plans  originally  contem- 
plated a  stone  chapel,  which  were  afterwards  changed 
to  one  of  brick.  The  chapel  as  proposed  was  designed 
to  accommodate  an  audience  of  five  hundred.  The 
contract  for  its  erection  was  made  on  June  22,  1873. 

When  the  plans  for  Sage  College,  the  gift  of  Henry 
W.  Sage,  were  drawn,  in  1872,  it  was  proposed  that  the 
large  room,  since  known  as  the  botanical  lecture  room, 
should  constitute  the  university  chapel.  One  evening, 
as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sage,  then  residents  of  Brooklyn, 
were  inspecting  the  plans,  Mrs.  Sage  inquired:  "  Is 
that  the  only  provision  in  that  great  university  which 
is  made  for  religious  services?  "  The  suggestion  led 
to  the  erection  of  Sage  Chapel.  On  the  following  day 
Mr.  Sage  called  on  President  White  and  said  that  if 
the  president  would  select  a  site  for  the  building,  he, 
Mr.  Sage,  would  erect  a  chapel  for  the  university. 

The  original  chapel  was  built  in  1873-74.  It  was  a 
red  brick  structure  of  the  pointed  or  Gothic  style,  and 
consisted  of  a  nave  extending  east  and  west,  seventy- 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      319 


two  feet  in  length  by  thirty-two  feet  in  width  inside, 
with  north  and  south  porches,  and  a  side  chapel  or 
south  transept  thirty-six  feet  in  length  by  twenty  feet 
in  width,  projecting  southward  from  the  east  end.  A 
small  tower  ten  feet  square  at  the  base  rose  in  the  re- 
entrant angle  between  the  nave  and  the  side  chapel. 
This  tower  contained  the  organ,  and  was  surmounted 
by  a  light  open  belfry.  The  nave  contained  four  hun- 
dred sittings,  the  side  chapel  one  hundred.  The  latter, 
separated  from  the  main  chapel  by  a  movable  screen, 
was  originally  intended  for  a  daily  morning  service, 
but  was  never  used  for  that  purpose.  For  many  years 
it  was  used  by  the  congregation  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal 
Church,  an  organization  of  campus  families,  of  which 
the  Rev.  Professor  Charles  Babcock  was  the  rector. 

The  pulpit  stood  at  the  east  end  of  the  nave.  The 
pews  were  of  black  walnut.  At  the  west  end  of  the 
nave  was  the  beautiful  Apostles '  window,  which  is  still 
to  be  seen  there,  while  above  the  pulpit,  after  Mrs. 
Sage's  death,  in  1885,  her  sons  erected  the  memorial 
window  described  on  a  later  page. 

The  chapel  was  designed  by  Professor  Babcock,  head 
of  the  department  of  architecture.  It  was  formally 
dedicated  on  June  13,  1875,  when  the  Rev.  Phillips 
Brooks,  then  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Boston, 
preached  a  memorable  sermon  from  the  text,  "  What 
I  tell  you  in  darkness,  that  speak  ye  in  light  "  (Mat- 
thew X,  27),  and  consecrated  Sage  Chapel  to  the  love 
of  Truth  and  the  love  of  Man. 

The  original  chapel  remained  substantially  un- 
changed for  twenty-four  years.  In  this  time  the  num- 
ber of  students  increased  from  496  to  1835.  Twice  in 
the  year  1896-97  the  services  had  to  be  transferred  to 
the  armory,  and  in  each  case  the  audience  was  three 
times  as  large  as  the  chapel  would  hold.  The  enlarge- 
ment of  the  building,  therefore,  became  imperative. 


320      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

These  alterations  were  made  in  1898,  again  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  Babcock.  The  east  half  of 
the  nave,  the  south  transept,  and  the  tower  were  all 
removed,  and  in  their  places  were  added  two  adjacent 
transepts,  covering  a  total  space  of  sixty-six  by  sixty- 
four  feet,  unobstructed  save  by  two  ten-inch  iron  col- 
umns. The  seating  capacity  was  thus  increased  to 
eight  hundred.  In  each  of  the  four  new  gables,  two 
on  the  north  and  two  on  the  south  side,  was  placed  a 
beautiful  rose  window,  ten  feet  in  diameter,  with  stone 
tracery,  the  stained  glass  being  of  the  Byzantine 
School.  Four  new  porches  were  built.  The  roof 
frames  were  of  open  timber  construction,  in  Georgia 
pine,  the  arched  trusses  springing  from  corbels  on  the 
walls  and  from  the  caps  of  the  iron  columns.  The  en- 
larged organ  was  placed  at  the  west  end  of  the  nave. 
New  oak  pews  were  provided,  finished  in  the  natural 
color  of  the  wood.  The  walls  were  painted  cream 
yellow;  beyond  this  there  was  no  attempt  to  decorate 
the  main  chapel. 

-  The  memorial  apse  at  this  time  erected  at  the  east 
end  of  the  nave  will  be  described  in  detail  later. 

The  pulpit  was  placed  at  the  right  of  the  apse,  or 
in  front  of  the  north  jamb  of  the  stone  arch  opening 
into  the  apse. 

In  1903-04  the  chapel  was  again  enlarged  and  elab- 
orately decorated  through  the  munificence  of  Mr.  Will- 
iam H.  Sage  of  Albany,  a  son  of  Henry  W.  Sage,  and 
for  many  years  a  trustee  of  the  university. 

The  architectural  alterations  now  made,  again  de- 
signed by  Professor  Babcock,  were  less  sweeping  in 
character  than  those  of  1898,  but  still  of  considerable 
importance.  The  north  wall  of  the  east  transept  has 
been  taken  down  and  the  transept  has  been  extended 
to  the  northward,  giving  an  additional  floor  space 
thirty-two  feet  square.     This,  with  a  projection  of  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     321 


platform  of  eight  feet  into  the  main  body  of  the  chapel, 
gives  a  space  forty  feet  in  length  by  thirty- two  feet 
in  width  for  the  organ,  a  choir  of  one  Imndred  singers, 
and  an  instrumental  orchestra  of  twelve  pieces.  The 
organ  has  been  transferred  from  the  west  end  of  the 
nave  to  the  north  end  of  the  newly  extended  transept 
and  rebuilt  without  change.  The  front  platform  is 
two  and  one-half  feet  above,  and  the  organ  three  and 
one-half  feet  above,  the  main  floor. 

The  platform  at  the  west  end  of  the  chapel,  before 
used  as  a  choir  loft,  has  been  removed,  and  the  original 
flooring  has  been  restored,  thus  regaining  a  space  six- 
teen by  thirty-two  feet  for  pews. 

The  solid  oak  doors  opening  into  the  memorial 
chapel  were  replaced  by  wrought  iron  doors,  gilded, 
the  panels  of  which  are  of  plate  glass.  This  affords  a 
partial  view  of  the  interior  of  the  memorial  chapel, 
even  when  the  doors  are  closed.  Likewise  the  old  pine 
doors  at  the  entrances  were  replaced  by  new  carved 
oak  doors  stained  a  dark  brown,  and  the  oak  wainscot 
has  been  darkened. 

The  building  is  now  lighted  by  six  massive  brass 
coronas  or  electroliers. 

Twelve  memorial  tablets  on  the  walls  recall  the 
memory  of  the  founder  and  of  university  trustees  and 
professors. 

The  scheme  for  the  interior  decoration  of  the  main 
chapel,  nave,  and  addition  was  designed  and  executed 
by  Messrs.  Cottier  &  Company  of  New  York.  The 
porches  and  aisles  have  been  laid  with  terraza,  a 
mottled  surface  of  small  pieces  of  white  and  yellow 
marble  in  cement,  with  Greek  fret  border  in  white, 
yellow,  green,  and  black,  all  beaten  down,  rolled, 
rubbed,  and  polished.  In  the  open  space,  eleven  by 
thirty-four  feet,  in  front  of  tlie  apse,  a  panel  of  mosaic 
was  placed,  in  the  middle  of  which  is  a  large  Greek 


322      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cross  with  crowns  in  the  center.  The  ornamental 
scheme  of  this  panel  shows  Truth,  as  represented  by 
the  True  Vine,  emanating  on  the  one  side  from  the 
center  of  the  pulpit  and  on  the  other  side  from  its  own 
roots,  as  growing  from  its  own  inspiration ;  the  inlaid 
inscription  reads,  "  I  am  the  vine;  ye  are  the 
branches." 

New  pew  ends  were  added,  and  the  pews  themselves 
have  been  stained  a  dark  brown  color.  They  were  also 
rearranged  to  conform  to  the  mosaic  work  of  the  aisles. 

The  walls  throughout,  above  the  wainscot,  were  cov- 
ered with  canvas  and  colored  up  to  the  intersection 
with  the  roof.  The  lower  portion  of  the  walls,  from 
the  wainscot  up  to  the  line  of  windows,  forms  a  band 
of  a  dark  red  or  maroon  color ;  above  that  it  is  a  salmon 
color  with  intersecting  lines  to  imitate  stone  or  ashlar 
work.  On  the  cornice  boards  of  the  side  walls,  begin- 
ning at  the  south  jamb  of  the  stone  arch  which  leads 
into  the  apse,  continuing  across  the  gables,  and  extend- 
ing around  the  chapel,  on  a  striped  red  background, 
is  the  summary  of  the  Law  as  taught  by  Jesus : 

' '  Jesus  said  unto  him.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with 
all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  command- 
ment. And  the  second  is  like  unto  it.  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments 
hang  all  the  Law  and  the  Prophets."  [Matthew  xxii, 
37-40.] 

Above  the  cornice  boards  the  gable  walls  of  both  the 
main  chapel  and  the  transepts  have  been  kept  a  pale 
yellow  color  of  a  greenish  hue,  and  upon  this  back- 
ground have  been  arranged  gilded  stars  and  wavy  lines 
of  pale  blue. 

The  jambs  and  arches  of  the  windows  are  orna- 
mented with  leaf -work  on  a  blue  ground,  which  greatly 
enhances  the  effect  of  the  stained  glass  work. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      323 


The  timbers  of  the  roof  are  painted  a  dull  brown,  re- 
lieved by  bands,  frets,  zigzags,  and  chevrons  in  red  and 
white.  The  ground  of  the  sloping  panels  is  of  the 
same  brown  hue.  In  the  center  of  each  panel  is  an 
ecclesiastical  emblem  painted  on  a  canvas  of  quatrefoil 
shape :  the  temple,  the  ship  on  the  wave,  and  the  ship 
and  pennant,  sjnnbols  of  the  Church ;  the  anchor,  sym- 
bol of  hope  and  patience ;  the  lamp,  of  piety  and  wis- 
dom; the  lamb  and  pennant,  of  the  Redeemer;  the 
cross,  of  redemption;  the  interwoven  triangles,  of  the 
Trinity;  the  lion,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah;  the  open  book 
with  a  hand  pointing  to  the  beatitudes,  symbol  of  the 
gospels;  the  sword  and  palm,  of  martyrdom  and  vic- 
tory; the  chalice,  of  faith;  the  flaming  heart,  of  fervent 
piety  and  love;  the  standard,  the  wreath,  and  the 
crown,  of  victory  over  evil ;  the  sun,  stars,  and  crescent 
moon,  of  the  luminous  nebula  which  emanates  from  and 
surrounds  the  Divine  Essence ;  the  burning  bush,  of  the 
religious  fervor  of  the  martyrs;  the  I.  H.  S.,  which 
originally  were  the  first  three  letters  of  the  name  Jesus 
in  Greek,  but  which  in  Renaissance  times  were  said  to 
stand  for  lesus  Hominum  Salvator,  ''  Jesus,  Saviour 
of  men. ' ' 

The  background  throughout  is  covered  with  a 
spreading  pattern,  the  motif  of  which  is  the  olive  vine, 
symbol  of  fertility,  with  branches,  leaves,  and  fruit. 
The  level  panels  at  the  top,  which  form  a  double  cross, 
have  a  blue  ground  in  which  are  set  gilded  sunbursts 
and  stars ;  while  in  the  centers  of  these  are  found  the 
Greek  cross,  the  encircled  crown,  the  Greek  letters  XP, 
which  began  the  word  Christos,  and  the  Alpha  and 
Omega,  which  to  the  early  mystic  signified  the  perfec- 
tion of  Christ. 

But  the  various  emblems  are  not  alone  significant; 
the  colors  themselves  speak  in  a  language  not  hard  to 
understand.      The    white    symbolizes    light,    religion, 


324     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

purity,  innocence,  faith,  joy,  and  life;  the  black  and 
white  together,  purity  of  life,  humiliation ;  the  red  sym- 
bolizes fire,  heat,  the  creative  power,  the  fervent  Divine 
love;  the  red  and  black  together,  purgatory  and  the 
realm  of  Satan ;  the  green,  hope  of  victory  and  immor- 
tality; the  gray,  mourning,  humility,  and  innocence 
accused;  the  blue,  the  firmament,  heaven,  truth,  con- 
stancy ;  the  gold,  the  sun,  the  goodness  of  God. 

These  decorations  have  transformed  a  tame  and  un- 
interesting interior  into  a  place  where  the  eye  may 
delight  in  restful  color  and  where  the  soul  uncon- 
sciously learns  to  worship.  The  too  warmly  colored 
woodwork  of  the  roof  and  the  monotonous  yellow  of 
the  walls  of  the  chapel  of  1898  were  replaced  by  a  har- 
monious blending  of  glorious  though  subdued  colors 
and  by  a  simple  decorative  scheme,  all  the  parts  of 
which  are  in  harmony.  This  has  been  done  by  means 
of  the  deep  tones  of  the  lower  woodwork  and  the  pews 
and  the  several  low  tones  of  red  in  the  walls,  notes  of 
the  same  color  being  carried  through  the  darkened 
woodwork  of  the  roof  and  beams  to  be  repeated  once 
more  in  the  double  cross  of  level  panels  in  the  roof. 
The  foliage  of  the  roof  work,  applied  on  the  brownish 
background,  lightens  to  some  extent  the  coarse  con- 
struction and  is  made  interesting  by  the  emblems  on 
the  panels.  The  discriminate  use  of  gold  in  the  roof, 
on  the  walls,  and  in  the  inscription  which  extends 
around  the  chapel  helps  to  bring  the  whole  decorative 
scheme  together.  The  work  on  the  walls  and  the 
dividing  bands  of  decorative  scroll-work  and  frets  are 
intended  to  lighten  up  the  otherwise  monotonous  bare- 
ness of  the  spaces  between  the  windows. 

Though  critics  may  differ  as  to  the  effectiveness  of 
certain  details  of  this  decoration,  the  whole  scheme 
must  be  pronounced  rich  in  its  suggestiveness  of  the 
centuries   of   Christian   tradition,   harmonious   in   its 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTOEY      325 

coloring,  and  entirely  appropriate  in  design  and  execu- 
tion. 

At  the  east  end  of  the  nave  the  university  erected, 
in  1898,  a  semi-octagonal  apse,  to  receive  the  mortal 
remains  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Sage,  and  to  stand 
as  a  memorial  to  "  the  second  founder  of  the  univer- 
sity. ' '  The  apse  is  thirty-one  feet  wide  by  sixteen  feet 
deep,  opening  into  the  main  building  by  a  massive 
stone  arch.  The  interior  walls,  from  the  window-sills 
up,  are  also  of  gray  stone.  The  oaken  ribs  of  the  ceil- 
ing are  carried  on  stone  columns  with  carved  capitals, 
supported  by  stone  corbels.  The  decoration  of  the 
apse  sets  forth  in  eloquent  symbolism  the  ideas  for 
which  Mr.  Sage  firmly  stood.  In  the  lower  proces- 
sional is  personified  the  work  of  the  university — the 
education  of  man  and  woman.  Co-education,  in  the 
movement  for  which  Cornell  University  was  a  pioneer, 
is  represented  by  the  young  man  and  the  young  woman 
who  stand  at  the  north  and  the  south  end  respectively. 
Each  is  clad  in  the  simplest  garb.  The  firm,  strong 
lines  of  the  woman's  figure,  not  less  than  the  sturdy 
limbs  and  well-knit  sinews  of  the  man,  suggest  the 
athlete.  Yet  the  training  of  the  body  has  but  kept 
pace  with  that  of  the  mind.  Each  holds  in  the  hands 
a  scroll  of  knowledge;  the  handsome  countenance  of 
each  is  lighted  with  that  high  ambition  which  thrills 
only  the  followers  of  the  intellectual  life.  Next  to 
each  is  a  group  of  three  figures :  next  to  the  man,  the 
Sciences;  next  to  the  woman,  the  Arts.  The  central 
figure  of  the  latter  group,  Art,  bears  in  one  hand  a 
model  of  the  Parthenon,  supreme  achievement  of  the 
kindred  arts  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting, 
in  which  Old  Greece  Jed  the  world.  Her  right  hand 
clasps  the  left  hand  of  Literature,  who  carries  a  book 
in  her  other  hand  and  whose  eyes  are  turned  to  the 
earth  in  thought.     On  the  right  of  Art  is  Music,  who 


326      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


bears  a  lyre,  and  who  gazes  into  the  distance  as  if  to 
catch  the  last  echoes  of  some  dying  harmony.  On  the 
ground  at  the  side  of  Music  are  a  palette  and  the  tools 
of  the  sculptor,  while  at  the  side  of  Literature  is  a  pile 
of  scrolls  and  books. 

Of  the  group  representing  the  sciences  the  crowned 
figure  in  the  middle  is  Astronomy.  She  bears  in  her 
hands  a  planisphere,  representing  the  worlds  beyond 
ours.  At  her  right  stands  Biology,  personifying  the 
study  of  life.  In  her  hand  is  a  bird's  nest  filled  with 
eggs,  while  a  chaplet  decks  her  head.  Beside  her  upon 
the  ground  are  other  objects  suggestive  of  the  biolog- 
ical sciences — a  skull,  a  starfish,  and  a  flowering  plant. 
The  third  figure,  Physics,  represents  the  study  of  in- 
animate matter.  She  bears  in  one  hand  an  alembic,  in 
the  other  a  spray  of  a  medicinal  herb.  On  the  ground 
by  her  side  rest  a  prism,  a  primitive  machine  for  mak- 
ing electricity,  and  a  Ley  den  jar. 

The  leader  of  each  procession  stands  next  to  the 
sitting  figure  in  the  center.  The  Arts  are  led  by  the 
cowled  figure  of  Truth,  who  bears  aloft  in  one  hand  a 
globe  and  in  the  other  a  pair  of  compasses.  The 
Sciences  are  led  by  Beauty,  who  bears  in  one  hand  the 
Venus  de  Milo,  type  of  man's  highest  art,  and  in  the 
other  a  rose,  the  most  perfect  work  of  nature.  Thus  is 
clearly  declared  the  intimate  relationship  of  Truth  and 
Beauty. 

In  the  center,  on  a  canopied  throne,  sits  Philosophy, 
or  Man  Thinking.  A  child  on  either  side  holds  the 
end  of  the  scroll  of  Learning,  both  science  and  art, 
which  he  rolls  or  unrolls  for  the  perusal  of  the  learned 
man.  The  august  figure  thus  enthroned  unites  the 
dual  idea  and  proves  the  unity  of  all  learning. 

All  the  figures  of  the  processional  are  of  life  size. 
The  space  occupied  is  forty-two  feet  in  length  and 
seven  in  height.     The  lower  part  of  the  background 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      327 

is  a  hedge  of  foliage  broken  by  sprays  of  flowers,  while 
the  heads  of  the  figures  stand  out  in  an  atmosphere  of 
gold,  ''  under  a  Vallombrosa  of  as  yet  unf alien  leaves, 
the  whole  suggesting  the  richness  of  culture  and  asso- 
ciations of  the  Old  in  harmony  with  the  energy  and 
the  earnestness  of  the  New  World." 

Above  this  is  the  beautiful  Gothic  memorial  window 
dedicated  to  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Sage  by  her  sons,  which 
likewise  adorned  the  old  chapel,  being  then  placed 
directly  above  the  pulpit.  In  the  middle  of  the  three 
rows  of  panels  are  depicted  the  Christian  graces  of 
Temperantia,  Veritas,  Caritas,  and  Honestia.  Above 
these  are  represented  the  four  parables  of  The  Lost 
Piece  of  Silver,  The  Good  Samaritan,  The  Prodigal 
Son,  The  Lost  Sheep,  and  in  the  lower  row  beneath 
are  depicted  the  parables  of  The  Sower,  The  Pearl  of 
Great  Price,  The  Pharisee  and  the  Publican,  and  The 
Hidden  Treasure.  On  the  right  of  this  large  window 
is  a  smaller  double  window  containing  the  figures  of 
Jesus  the  Light  of  the  World  and  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist, and  inscribed  to  the  memory  of  Mrs.  William 
H.  Sage.  On  the  left  a  corresponding  window,  con- 
taining the  figures  of  Jesus  the  Good  Shepherd  and 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  bears  an  inscription  in  memory 
of  DeWitt  Linn  Sage,  son  of  William  H.  Sage. 

The  imagery  of  the  vaulted  ceiling  is  beautiful  and 
suggestive.  In  the  space  to  the  southeast  are  the 
warrior  St.  Michael,  his  hand  resting  upon  his  drawn 
sword,  symbol  of  the  Church  Militant,  and  St.  Gabriel, 
who  bears  in  his  hands  a  bunch  of  lilies,  significant  of 
the  Church  Triumphant.  On  the  opposite  side  are  the 
archangels  Uriel  and  Raphael,  crowned  with  halos. 
They  hold  in  their  hands  the  chalice,  for  religion,  and 
the  pilgrim's  staff,  for  the  work  of  the  world. 

In  the  central  space  above,  directly  over  the  tombs, 
the  smaller,  as  if  more  distant,  figures  of  four  angels 


328      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

kneel  in  adoration  beneath  an  ornamented  cross,  sym- 
bol of  the  Eternal  Mystery  of  God's  love  revealed  in 
man,  which  stands  emblazoned  at  the  zenith.  Cornell 
University  thus  gives  permanent  recognition  to  the 
supremacy  of  religion,  the  goal  of  Science  and  Art  and 
Philosophy,  the  highest  realization  of  the  ultimate 
Truth  and  Beauty  in  himian  life. 

The  mosaic  work  was  designed  by  Mr.  Charles  Rol- 
linson  Lamb,  and  executed  by  Messrs.  J.  and  R.  Lamb 
of  New  York,  under  his  supervision.  The  paintings 
and  studies  of  groups  in  the  processional  were  made  by 
Mrs.  Charles  R.  Lamb;  the  four  single  iigures  were 
drawn  by  Mr.  Chester  Loomis,  of  the  class  of  '72 ;  and 
the  figures  in  the  ceiling  were  the  work  of  Mr.  Fred- 
erick Stymetz  Lamb. 

The  floor  below,  together  with  a  seat  running  along 
the  base,  is  of  greenish-black  marble.  In  the  floor, 
above  the  graves  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sage,  are  two  raised 
recumbent  stones  of  Carrara  marble.  On  that  of  Mr. 
Sage  is  a  wreath  of  oak  leaves,  symbol  of  courage 
and  strength;  while  on  Mrs.  Sage's  stone  is  a  simi- 
lar wreath  of  ivy,  symbol  of  affection  and  remem- 
brance. 

A  new  pulpit  presented  by  the  family  of  the  late 
Dean  Sage,  founder  of  the  chapel  preachership,  is  as 
a  memorial  to  him.  It  is  built  entirely  of  Caen  stone, 
and  is  of  early  Gothic  design.  It  is  octagonal  in  form, 
having  six  sides  complete.  Each  side  forms  a  panel 
with  a  trefoil  arch,  diapered,  and  with  upper  tracery 
supported  by  two  columns  with  moulded  bases  and 
carved  and  foliated  capitals.  The  angles  are  also 
octagonal,  supporting  a  carved  cornice  carried  upon  a 
moulded  corbel,  raised  upon  carved  capitals  with  five 
complete  columns  and  moulded  bases,  the  whole  being 
raised  upon  two  octagonal  plinth  stones,  on  which  is 
this  inscription : 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      329 

"  In  memory  of  Dean  Sage,  1841-1902,  Founder  of 
the  Preachership  in  this  Chapel." 

The  original  organ,  which  was  of  two  manuals  and 
contained  nineteen  speaking  stops,  was  presented  to 
the  university  by  Mr.  William  H.  Sage.  In  1898  this 
was  enlarged  and  now  contains  three  manuals  and 
thirty-five  speaking  stops. 

The  Memorial  Chapel  was  erected  in  1883-84  by  the 
university  and  the  estate  of  Mrs.  Jennie  McGraw 
Fiske,  in  memory  of  Ezra  Cornell,  John  McGraw,  and 
Jennie  McGraw  Fiske,  his  daughter,  whose  remains 
are  interred  in  the  crypt  beneath.  The  tablet  in  the 
north  wall  outside  was  unveiled  on  Commencement 
Day,  1883,  by  Governor  Cleveland.  In  style  the  chapel 
is  of  the  middle  French  Pointed  School.  The  ridge  of 
the  slate  room  is  surmounted  by  an  iron  cresting.  The 
chapel  measures  inside  twenty  feet  in  width  by  thirty- 
two  feet  in  length.  The  inside  walls  up  to  the  window- 
sills  are  of  Ohio  stone.  Above  this  there  extends  around 
the  chapel  a  leaf -work  string-course  of  terra  cotta. 
The  remainder  of  the  interior  walls  is  of  yellow  brick. 
The  ceiling  is  a  ribbed  vault,  the  ribs  being  of  Ohio 
stone,  the  panels  of  Caen  stone.  The  ribs  are  sup- 
ported by  columns  of  red  marble,  with  ornamented  cap- 
itals of  Ohio  stone.     The  floor  is  of  encaustic  tiles. 

Directly  beneath  the  north  window  is  a  recumbent 
figure  of  Ezra  Cornell  in  white  marble,  of  heroic  size, 
by  the  late  William  W.  Story  of  Rome.  Near  the  en- 
trance, on  the  west  side  of  the  room,  is  a  smaller  re- 
cumbent figure  of  Mrs.  Andrew  D.  ^Yhite,  also  of  white 
marble,  by  Moses  Ezekiel  of  Rome. 

Five  triple  windows  adorn  the  walls  of  the  Memorial 
Chapel.  The  window  of  the  north  wall  contains  the 
figures  of  John  Harvard,  1638,  founder  of  Harvard 
University;  William  of  Wykeham,  1379,  bishop  of 
Winchester,  and  founder  of  St.  Mary's  College,  Win- 


330      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Chester,  and  of  New  College,  Oxford;  and  Ezra  Cor- 
nell, 1865;  accompanied  respectively  by  the  seals  of 
Harvard  University,  New  College,  and  Cornell  Univer- 
sity. This  window  was  erected  by  the  trustees  in  1883 
to  the  memory  of  Ezra  Cornell. 

The  north  window  of  the  west  wall  contains  the  fig- 
ures of  Elihu  Yale,  1718,  who  gave  his  books  for  the 
founding  of  the  college  at  New  Haven,  which  received 
his  name;  Sir  Thomas  Bodley,  1598,  founder  of  the 
Bodleian  Library  of  Oxford  University;  and  John 
McGraw,  of  Ithaca,  1871,  a  trustee  of  Cornell,  who 
gave  to  the  university  the  former  home  of  the  library, 
McGraw  Hall.  This  window  was  likewise  erected  in 
1883  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  McGraw. 

In  the  north  window  of  the  east  wall  are  the  figures 
of  Jeanne  de  Navarre,  1304,  bearing  a  small  model  of 
the  College  de  Navarre,  which  she  founded;  Jane 
McGraw  Fiske,  1881;  and  Margaret  Beaufort,  Count- 
ess of  Richmond,  1509,  founder  of  the  Lady  Margaret 
divinity  professorships  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  and 
of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  This  window  was 
likewise  erected  in  1883  in  memory  of  Mrs.  Fiske, 
whose  generosity  in  bequeathing  a  large  sum  for  the 
university  library  the  trustees  thus  commemorated. 

South  of  this  is  a  window  erected  in  1903  by  ex-Pres- 
ident Andrew  D.  White  and  containing  the  figures  of 
Archbishop  Fenelon,  Philip  Melanchthon,  and  Thomas 
Arnold  of  Rugby,  typical  scholars  and  educators  of 
France,  Germany,  and  England. 

Above  the  recumbent  figure  of  Mrs.  White  one  sees 
the  faces  of  St.  Clara,  St.  Mary,  and  St.  Lucia. 

On  the  walls  are  five  memorial  tablets  in  honor  of 
Mrs.  Cornell,  of  Hon.  George  W.  Schuyler,  Hon. 
Erastus  Brooks,  and  Hiram  Sibley,  former  trustees, 
and  of  Louis  Agassiz,  a  non-resident  professor  in  the 
university.     The  tablet  to  Mr.  Sibley  is  surmounted 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      331 

by  an  admirable  bronze  bust,  the  work  of  Mr.  Herman 
A.  MacNiel,  a  former  instructor  in  Sibley  College. 

Besides  the  memorial  windows  of  the  apse  and  the 
Memorial  Chapel,  described  above,  the  main  chapel 
contains  several  others.  In  the  beautiful  windows  in 
the  south  end  of  the  west  transept  are  the  figures  of 
St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  her  mantle  filled  with  the 
roses  into  which  her  provisions  for  the  poor  have  been 
miraculously  transformed,  and  of  Florence  Nightin- 
gale holding  a  cup  of  water  to  the  parched  lips  of  a 
sick  man.     The  former  bears  this  inscription : 

'*  In  affectionate  memory  of  Margaret  Hicks  Volk- 
mann  of  the  class  of  1878  this  window  is  placed  by 
her  classmates  and  friends,  1858-1883." 

The  latter  window  is  thus  inscribed : 

''  To  the  memory  of  Mary  Bartlett  Hill,  1868-1887, 
this  window  is  erected  by  her  classmates  and  fellow- 
students." 

Near  this,  in  the  west  wall  of  the  transept,  are  two 
windows  containing  the  figures  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul 
with  a  child  on  his  left  arm  and  leading  a  child  with 
his  hand,  and  John  Howard  in  the  act  of  speaking 
words  of  hope  and  comfort  to  a  poor  prisoner.  Be- 
neath these  two  windows  is  this  inscription : 

"  In  memory  of  Edward  Scribner  Nevius,  a  student 
of  this  university,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  effort  to 
rescue  a  stranger  from  drowning.  He  was  born  Jan- 
uary 9,  1869,  and  died  December  12,  1888.  His  fellow 
students  in  the  College  of  Civil  Engineering,  remember- 
ing his  noble  life  and  heroic  death,  erect  this  memorial. 
'  Whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  shall  preserve  it.' 
[Luke  xvii,  33.]  '  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this, 
that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends.'  [John 
XV,  13.]." 

In  the  south  wall  of  the  original  nave  are  three  win- 
dows ;  in  the  middle  is  the  figure  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 


332      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTOEY 

blessing  little  children  and  holding  a  child  on  his  left 
arm,  while  in  the  window  on  either  side  are  angels 
making  music  with  flute  and  harp,  violin  and  lute  and 
voice,  and  rejoicing  at  the  Divine  Goodness  thus  come 
down  to  men.  Beneath  the  three  windows  is  this  in- 
scription : 

' '  In  memory  of  Andrew  Danf  orth  Wliite,  son  of  An- 
drew Dickson  and  Mary  Amanda  White,  born  at  New 
York,  April  21,  1874,  baptised  in  the  adjacent  chapel, 
October  11,  1874,  died  at  Stuttgart,  Germany,  Decem- 
ber 7, 1877." 

Opposite  this,  in  the  north  wall,  another  triple  win- 
dow contains  the  figures  of  three  groups  of  beautiful 
women  engaged  in  teaching  little  children.  The  cen- 
tral figure  is  a  likeness  of  the  lady  whom  the  window 
commemorates  and  who  was  herself  a  successful  and 
distinguished  teacher.  Beneath  may  be  read  this 
inscription : 

"  Beati  misericordes  quoniam  ipsi  misericordiam 
consequentur.  This  window  is  erected  in  affectionate 
memory  of  Abigail  Disbrow,  beloved  wife  of  Charles 
Kendall  Adams,  born  at  Eochester,  December  30, 1828, 
entered  into  rest  July  5,  1889. ' ' 

A  beautiful  window  in  the  north  end  of  the  west  tran- 
sept containing  the  figure  of  History,  a  venerable  man 
with  a  scroll  in  his  hand,  is  inscribed:  "  In  loving 
memory  of  Moses  Coit  Tyler." 

A  small  canopy  on  the  west  side  of  the  Memorial 
Chapel  contains  a  terra  cotta  statue  of  Generosity,  a 
woman  bearing  in  her  hand  a  small  model  of  a  build- 
ing. In  a  similar  position  on  the  east  side  is  the  ven- 
erable figure  of  Wisdom,  sculptured  in  English  Port- 
land stone. 

In  the  north  end  of  the  east  transept  are  five  niches 
for  statuary.  These  will  ultimately  be  filled  with  the 
following  statues,  the  order  proceeding  from  west  to 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      333 

east:  St.  Luke,  St.  Mark,  Christ,  St.  Matthew,  St. 
John.  In  the  niche  around  the  corner,  on  the  east 
side,  will  be  placed  a  statue  of  Guido  Aretino,  or 
d'Arezzo  (995-1050),  the  Italian  monk  who  invented 
the  monochord,  introduced  the  four-line  staff  for  writ- 
ing music  with  square  notes,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
originated  the  modern  do  re  mi  system  of  musical 
notation. 

Over  the  door  in  the  porch  leading  into  the  choir 
loft  is  the  beautiful  terra  cotta  head  of  an  angel,  repre- 
senting Worship,  after  the  school  of  Delia  Robbia. 
This  is  the  gift  of  Professor  Babcock. 

On  the  lawn  between  this  porch  and  the  Memorial 
Chapel  is  an  old  Venetian  well-head,  quaintly  carved, 
and  having  inscribed  upon  it  the  motto  of  Venice : 
"  Pax  tibi,  Marce,  evangelista  mens."  It  was  placed 
there  in  1903  by  ex-President  White. 

The  terra  cotta  relief  of  Christ  the  Preacher,  which 
was  donated  by  Professor  Babcock,  and  which  in  the 
chapel  of  1898  was  placed  over  the  inner  door  of  the 
north  porch,  has  been  placed  in  the  head  of  the  outer 
door  of  the  east  porch  on  the  south  side. 

The  preachership  was  endowed  in  1873  by  the  late 
Dean  Sage  of  Albany,  son  of  Henry  W.  Sage,  a  fact 
recorded  on  the  base  of  the  memorial  pulpit.  Early 
in  the  present  year  the  endowment  was  augmented  by 
a  generous  gift  from  Mrs.  Dean  Sage. 

Provision  was  made  in  the  summer  of  1874  for  lay- 
ing out  the  grounds  of  the  Sage  College  by  a  skilful 
landscape  gardener,  and  about  the  same  time  the 
wooden  bridge  across  Cascadilla  was  replaced  by  the 
present  structure  of  iron. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees  on  June  16,  1880, 
the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage  offered  to  erect  at  his  own 
expense  a  conservatory  for  the  botanical  department 
at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  $15,000. 


334      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

On  September  3,  1880,  the  erection  of  a  physical 
laboratory  was  authorized,  and  it  was  directed  that 
plans  and  estimates  for  it  should  be  prepared  at  once, 
and  on  December  18,  1880,  an  appropriation  was  made 
to  erect  and  equip  the  same. 

The  erection  of  an  armory  was  authorized  April  29, 
1882,  and  a  new  building  for  the  departments  of  chem- 
istry and  physics  on  June  9  of  the  same  year. 

On  June  14,  1883,  the  erection  of  a  memorial  chapel, 
to  serve  as  a  mausoleum  for  the  benefactors  and  offi- 
cers of  the  university,  was  ordered. 

In  the  summer  of  1887  Mr.  Alfred  S.  Barnes  offered 
to  give  $45,000,  in  addition  to  the  amount  already  sub- 
scribed by  the  members  of  the  Christian  Association, 
to  erect  a  building  to  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  the 
association.  The  plans  of  this  building  were  author- 
ized September  27,  1887,  and  the  construction  was  im- 
mediately entered  upon,  the  building  being  formally 
opened  for  public  use  at  Commencement,  1888. 

The  erection  of  a  building  for  the  department  of 
civil  engineering  was  ordered  by  the  trustees  at  their 
meeting  October  26,  1887.  On  June  20,  1888,  it  was 
provided  that  this  building  should  be  made  of  stone, 
in  order  to  correspond  with  the  other  buildings  of  the 
quadrangle.  On  June  19,  1889,  the  name  Lincoln  Hall 
was  bestowed  upon  it  in  honor  of  President  Lincoln, 
by  whose  approval  the  act  of  Congress,  donating 
public  lands  for  agricultural  and  mechanical  education, 
became  a  law.  Work  upon  the  same  was  begun  in 
April,  1888. 

On  September  19,  1888,  the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage, 
feeling  deeply  the  immediate  need  of  a  library  build- 
ing while  litigation  regarding  the  realization  of  Mrs. 
Fiske's  will  was  still  pending,  proposed  to  advance  to 
the  university  the  necessary  funds  for  the  erection  of 
the  building.     By  a  letter  July  15,  1889,  Mr.  Sage  pro- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      335 


posed  that  this  library  building  should  be  a  free  gift, 
if  by  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
the  bequest  of  Jennie  McGraw  should  fail. 

The  erection  of  a  new  chemical  laboratory  was 
ordered  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Octo- 
ber 24,  1888,  the  plans  for  which  as  prepared  by  Pro- 
fessor Osborne  were  formally  adopted,  and  a  site 
chosen.  The  erection  of  the  building  was  begun  in 
July,  1889. 

On  February  18,  1891,  an  appropriation  was  made 
for  the  erection  of  a  law-school  building,  plans  for 
which  were,  on  April  25,  1891,  accepted  and  the  con- 
tract was  made  on  September  21,  1891. 

On  March  13,  1883,  Mr.  Hiram  Sibley  of  Rochester 
presented  $50,000  to  the  university  to  be  spent  in  the 
erection  of  additions  to  the  present  buildings  of  Sibley 
College  to  provide  additional  accommodations  for  its 
increased  numbers. 

The  plans  for  the  development  of  Sibley  College 
contemplated  the  erection  of  a  lofty  central  tower 
(later  changed  to  a  dome),  which  should  unite  the 
separate  wings  and  give  dignity  to  the  college.  Mr. 
Hiram  W.  Sibley  added  to  his  own  precious  benevo- 
lence, and  to  that  of  his  father,  by  the  erection  of  this 
central  structure.  The  erection  of  this  building  was 
begun  in  1900,  and  it  was  completed  ready  for  occu- 
pancy in  the  summer  of  1902.  The  basement  contains 
a  large  workshop,  the  entire  first  floor  a  museum,  the 
second  floor  a  large  auditorium,  with  a  gallery  and  a 
seating  capacity  of  nearly  one  thousand. 

The  attention  of  the  trustees  was  early  directed  to 
the  acquisition  of  collections  of  natural  history  and 
of  art.  One  of  the  first  collections  obtained  before 
the  opening  of  the  university  was  the  Jewett  col- 
lection in  paleontology  and  geology,  which  was  pur- 
chased  by   Mr.   Cornell   at   a   cost   of   ten   thousand 


336      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

dollars  and  presented  to  the  university.  This  col- 
lection, which  had  been  made  by  a  scientist  in  Al- 
bany, was  regarded  at  the  time  as  extremely  com- 
plete. Soon  after  the  charter  of  the  university,  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  giving  to  the  university  a 
collection  of  duplicates  in  the  same  department  from 
the  state  museum  in  Albany.  A  larger  and  more  im- 
portant acquisition  was  that  of  the  Newcomb  collec- 
tion of  shells,  which  was  purchased  by  the  trustees  in 
February,  1868.  Dr.  Newcomb  had  spent  many  years 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  in  Central  America,  in 
which  he  had  made  an  extensive,  and  almost  unequaled, 
collection  of  shells  illustrating  the  conchology  of  those 
regions.  Many  of  these  shells  were  of  the  highest 
value,  and  some  were  absolutely  unique;  the  only  col- 
lections at  the  time  which  could  be  compared  with  it 
was  the  type  collection  made  by  Professor  Adams  of 
Amherst,  and  a  similar  collection  at  Yale.  The  uni- 
versity also  authorized  the  purchase  of  the  mineralog- 
ical  cabinet  of  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman,  Jr.,  of 
Yale  College.  Smaller,  but  valuable,  additions  were 
made,  among  others  a  collection  of  four  hundred  birds, 
presented  by  Greene  Smith,  Esq.,  the  son  of  Gerrit 
Smith.  Valuable  gifts  of  books  were  also  received, 
which  are  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  library. 
The  Museum  of  Archaeology  is  a  recent  but  most  val- 
uable addition  to  classical  study  and  to  the  history 
of  art.  This  beautiful  collection  is  the  gift  of  the 
Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage.  When  the  library  was  moved 
from  the  McGraw  building,  the  rooms  which  it  had 
occupied  were  devoted  to  a  museum  of  archaeology. 
This  was  fitted  up  for  its  purpose  during  the  year 
1893,  and  it  was  formally  dedicated  in  February,  1894. 
President  White  had  early  insisted  that  a  museum  of 
casts  would  be  one  of  the  most  valuable  acquisitions 
for  the  study  of  the  history  of  art  which  could  be  made 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     337 

in  tills  country.  The  acquisition  of  original  works  of 
art  was  impossible,  but  in  place  of  them  the  exact 
models,  almost  equally  valuable  for  purposes  of  study, 
could  be  obtained.  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage,  whose  large 
interest  in  the  development  of  the  university  was  not 
confined  to  any  one  department,  made  this  beautiful 
gift  to  the  study  of  the  humanities. 

The  museum  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  system  of  in- 
struction followed  in  the  arts  course  and  of  the  needs 
of  graduate  work  in  the  classical  departments  at  Cor- 
nell. The  leading  ideal  in  its  formation  is  to  furnish 
the  best  illustration  of  the  development  of  antique 
sculpture.  It  therefore  consists  principally  of  a  col- 
lection of  full-size  plaster  casts,  numbering  nearly  five 
hundred,  of  notable  examples  of  Greek  and  Roman 
bronzes  and  marbles.  These  have  been  furnished  or 
made  to  order,  for  the  most  part,  under  the  direction 
of  the  foreign  museums  possessing  the  originals.  Some 
specimens  of  Egyptian,  Chaldean,  Assyrian,  Persian, 
and  Etruscan  sculpture  have  been  added  for  purposes 
of  comparison.  The  principal  groups,  distributed  in 
eight  sections  over  five  thousand  three  hundred  square 
feet  of  floor  area,  illustrate  Oriental  and  early  Greek 
sculpture,  classical  mythology,  Greek  athletic  statuary, 
architectural  sculpture,  the  school  of  Praxiteles,  later 
Greek,  Pompeiian,  and  Graeco-Roman  sculpture.  No 
attempt  has  been  made  to  illustrate  Christian  sculp- 
ture. 

As  a  museum  of  classical  sculpture,  the  collection  is 
actually  excelled  by  no  other  university  museum  in  the 
United  States,  and  among  other  foundations  only  by 
the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  of  Boston.  The  total  cost 
of  the  collection  and  equipment  is  about  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars. 


338      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

The  Infirmary 

Upon  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage,  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  his  sons,  Messrs.  Dean 
and  William  H.  Sage,  gave  his  beautiful  residence,  on 
East  State  Street,  for  the  purpose  of  an  infirmary,  and 
endowed  the  same  with  a  gift  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  This  beautiful  building  of  brownstone,  with 
its  ample  grounds  and  spacious  verandas,  was  set 
apart  for  the  service  of  students  of  the  university. 
By  the  act  of  gift  its  use  was  limited  to  them.  It  was 
transformed  by  the  generosity  of  the  donors  so  that  it 
was  admirably  equipped  for  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  dedicated.  Its  lofty  rooms  formed  bright  and 
cheerful  places  for  the  suffering;  rooms  for  rest  and 
surgical  operations  and  for  the  supply  of  food  and 
nourishment,  as  well  as  quarters  for  the  head  nurse 
and  her  assistants.  Separate  accommodations  were 
prepared  for  the  young  women.  The  number  of  stu- 
dents under  treatment  varies  usually  from  ten  to 
twenty.  In  the  great  epidemic  of  tj^hoid  fever  in 
1903  even  these  admirable  accommodations  proved  in- 
adequate, and  at  one  time  fifty  or  sixty  students  found 
treatment  at  the  same  time  within  its  walls.  No 
recent  act  of  beneficence  has  proved  of  such  an  indis- 
pensable character  as  this  gift  to  the  university. 

In  the  year  1895-96  the  trustees  decided  to  erect  a 
hydraulic  laboratory,  beside  the  Triphammer  Falls 
and  Fall  Creek,  "  The  accurate  experimental  study 
of  resistance  to  the  resultant  forces  of  great  masses 
of  water  and  of  the  useful  application  of  them  with  a 
minimum  expenditure  of  effort,  and  the  consequent 
ability  to  express  their  laws  with  mathematical  exact- 
ness," is  to-day  of  vital  importance  in  all  great  opera- 
tions in  which  the  control  of  water,  either  at  rest  or 
in  motion,  enters  as  a  constituent  factor.  **  Existing 
laboratories  deal  with  such  small  forces  and  apparatus 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      339 

that  it  is  impracticable  to  apply  their  results  to  the 
solution  of  many  difficult  problems  which  come  up  in 
important  hydraulic  works.     There  is  no  laboratory 
existing  in  which  the  characteristic  problems  of  river 
regulation    and    harbor    building    can    be    studied." 
Having  in  mind  these  facts,  it  was  decided  to  increase 
the  expense  contemplated  in  providing  for  a  new  water 
supply  for  the  campus  by  the  erection  of  a  hydraulic 
laboratory.     The  plan  of  this  work  and  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  same  was  due  to  Mr.  Frank  S.  Wash- 
burn, of  the  class  of  1883.     "  The  laboratory  includes 
a  canal  excavated  through  rock  along  the  south  edge 
of  Fall  Creek  Gorge  from  Triphammer  Falls  reservoir 
to  the  face  of  the  cliff  overlooking  the  falls.    At  the 
lower  end  a  side  channel  branches  to  a  vertical  steel 
standpipe  standing  on  a  level  with  the  foot  of  the  falls. 
In  order  that  the  supply  of  water  for  the  standpipe  in 
ordinary  circumstances  may  be   independent   of  the 
conditions  of  flow  in  the  canal,  a  thirty-inch  pipe  leads 
under  the  bed  of  the  canal  from  an  auxiliary  entrance 
chamber  provided  for  the  purpose  to  the  feed-pipe 
and  side-channel  connecting  the  canal  and  standpipe. 
Under  normal  conditions  of  usage  the  supply  to  the 
standpipe  will  be  drawn  entirely  from  the  thirty-inch 
pipe.     The  distinctive  features  of  the  canal  are  the 
double-entrance  chamber  and  double  system  of  gates, 
ample   weir   chambers,    and    side-waste   weirs.      The 
canal  proper  is  four  hundred  feet  long,  sixteen  feet 
wide,  and  twelve  feet  deep,  lined  with  concrete,  backed 
with  asphaltic  waterproofing  to  insure  against  leakage, 
and  there  is  an  under-channel  for  the  thorough  sub- 
drainage  of  the  surrounding  rock   strata.     A  waste 
weir  set  at  the  foot  of  the  canal  allows  the  entire  flow 
to  be  wasted  over  the  cliff  except  when  it  is  desired  to 
turn  the  flow  through  side-gates  into  the  standpipe 
feeder.    The  discharge  into  the  standpipe  through  the 


340      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

thirty-inch  pipe  is  measured  by  a  weir  set  in  the  aux- 
iliary entrance-chamber.  The  riveted  steel  standpipe, 
six  feet  in  diameter  and  sixty  feet  high,  is  fitted  with 
openings  at  intermediate  heights  which  are  suitably 
housed  and  connected  by  a  staircase.  The  base  of  the 
standpipe  is  in  a  laboratory  building  twenty-four  feet 
by  fifty  feet,  set  at  the  foot  of  the  falls.  A  large  reser- 
voir is  necessary  for  the  successful  performance  of  the 
more  extensive  experiments,  and  the  present  Trip- 
hammer Falls  reservoir  will  provide  available  storage 
for  a  number  of  million  gallons  of  water. 

''  In  connection  with  this  work,  a  new  dam  was 
erected  at  Triphammer  Falls  and  an  artificial  lake 
created  which  would  contain  fifty-three  million  gallons 
of  water,  thus  making  it  j^ossible  to  afford  additional 
power  for  laboratory  purposes  at  all  times."  With 
these  improvements  a  new  system  of  sewers  and  water 
mains  for  the  campus  was  provided. 

The  attention  of  the  university  authorities  had  been 
called  for  several  years  to  the  need  of  securing  the 
land  to  the  west  of  the  university,  between  West  and 
Stewart  avenues.  It  was  clearly  foreseen  that  this 
land  would  be  indispensable  in  the  future  growth  of  the 
university.  The  purchase  of  this  land  was  unfortu- 
nately delayed,  but  it  was  finally  obtained  in  1903.  At 
the  same  time,  the  acquisition  of  additional  land  for 
the  needs  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  to  indemnify  it 
for  the  loss  of  fifty  acres  devoted  to  the  athletic  field 
was  realized.  About  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres 
were  thus  added  to  the  university  estate. 

Several  plans  were  made  at  this  time  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  grounds,  one  by  the  architects 
Carrere  and  Hastings,  and  a  more  elaborate  and  care- 
ful survey  by  Mr.  Charles  N.  Lowrie,  the  landscape 
architect. 

In  the  year  1896  an  effort  was  made  to  preserve  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      341 

beautiful  ravines  from  further  despoliation  and  to  in- 
crease the  beauty  of  the  university  grounds.  Mr.  Will- 
iam H.  Sage  erected  a  new  stone-arched  bridge  over 
Caseadilla  Creek,  constituting  an  improved  approach 
to  the  campus;  and  the  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White  gave 
the  gateway  which  is  placed  west  of  Caseadilla  Build- 
ing, prepared  after  designs  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Miller.  This 
gateway  consists  of  heavy  stone  piers  twenty-five  feet 
in  height,  flanked  by  twelve-foot  walls,  affording  a  cen- 
tral opening  for  a  carriage  drive  and  a  similar  opening 
for  pedestrians.  The  gateway  is  composed  of  blocks 
of  Ohio  sandstone  and  limestone  in  alternate  courses, 
and  each  pier  is  surmounted  by  a  moulded  cap  of  Ohio 
stone,  terminating  in  a  ball.  Over  the  central  opening 
is  an  elaborate  wrought  iron  arch.  At  each  end  are 
wing  walls,  in  the  center  of  which  are  placed  tablets 
bearing  the  following  inscriptions: — Upon  the  west 
wing,  **  So  enter,  that  daily  thou  mayst  become  more 
learned  and  thoughtful.  So  depart  that  daily  thou 
mayst  become  more  useful  to  thy  country  and  to  man- 
kind ";  upon  the  east  wing,  ''  The  Lord  bless  thy  go- 
ing out  and  thy  coming  in  from  this  time  forth  for- 
evermore." 

The  New  York  State  Veterinary  College  was  erected 
in  the  years  1895-96,  after  plans  by  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor Osborne. 

On  November  13,  1900,  the  upper  story  of  the  main 
college  building  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  professors 
of  histology  and  pathology  lost  much  valuable  appara- 
tus, and  the  latter  a  mass  of  valuable  manuscript. 
Repairs  on  the  partially  destroyed  building  began  in 
the  following  week,  and  the  entire  work  was  finished 
in  the  summer  following.  Certain  improvements  in 
the  laboratories  by  which  the  danger  of  fire  is  lessened 
were  made  in  the  reconstruction. 

Professor  Fuertes  had  advocated  for  many  years  the 


342      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

erection  of  an  astronomical  observatory.  He  pos- 
sessed several  telescopes  which  were  purchased  by  the 
university,  and  which  were  installed  in  a  wooden  build- 
ing which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  north  wing  of  the 
Goldwin  Smith  Hall.  Later  it  was  removed  to  the  site 
of  Stimson  Hall.  The  building  had  many  practical 
conveniences,  owing  to  the  skill  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
professor  who  planned  it.  It,  however,  was  incom- 
plete, and  was  itself  a  standing  reproach  to  the 
campus.  General  Alfred  0.  Barnes,  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  offered  to  erect  a  geodetic  observatory 
which,  while  not  large  enough  to  meet  the  needs  of  an 
astronomical  observatory,  would  yet  serve  for  such 
astronomical  practice  as  it  was  necessary  for  students 
in  civil  engineering  to  receive.  This  building  stands 
on  the  eminence  south  of  the  veterinary  college.  It 
contains  a  computing  room  twenty  feet  square  at  the 
west  end,  a  transit  room,  four  piers,  a  clock-room,  and 
two  domes  over  the  clock-room  twenty  feet  and  eight- 
een feet  in  diameter  respectively.  The  west  front 
extends  south  from  the  computing  room,  with  a  prime 
vertical  transit  room,  a  general  instrument  room,  and 
a  dome,  eleven  feet  in  diameter,  above  the  instrument 
room.  This  observatory  contained  at  its  opening  a 
five-inch  equatorial,  two  altazimuths,  two  astronomical 
transits,  and  two  zenith  telescopes  with  two  chrono- 
graphs, and  an  astronomical  clock.  This  building  was 
completed  so  that  it  could  be  used  in  September,  1903. 

Mr.  Dean  Sage,  son  of  the  Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage, 
was  the  personal  friend  of  Colonel  Oliver  H.  Payne, 
and  was  actively  interested  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Cornell  University  Medical  College  in  New 
York.  In  order  to  supplement  the  work  of  that  college 
in  the  instruction  of  the  university,  he  offered  to  erect 
a  building  for  the  medical  department  in  Ithaca  which 
should  bear  the  name  of  Dr.  Lewis  A.  Stimson,  pro- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     343 


feasor  of  surgery  in  Cornell  University,  who  was  in- 
fluential in  establishing  the  medical  college  of  the  uni- 
versity in  New  York.  The  site  chosen  for  the  college 
was  in  the  corner  of  the  campus  bounded  by  East  and 
President  avenues.  It  is  thus  situated  on  the  south 
side  of  the  quadrangle,  directly  east  and  in  line  with 
Boardman  Hall,  the  other  professional  school  of  the 
university,  corresponding  in  part  to  the  architecture 
of  the  latter.  This  beautiful  and  very  serviceable 
building,  designed  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Miller,  which  was 
skilfully  planned  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
erected,  contains  on  the  first  floor  a  museum,  library, 
and  lecture  rooms,  and  upon  the  second  floor  general 
laboratories,  while  the  third  floor  contains  large  dis- 
secting rooms.  In  the  basement  are  a  cold-storage 
plant,  embalming  room,  and  crematory.  The  building 
is  so  designed  that  an  extension  can  be  erected  to  the 
south,  duplicating  the  main  building  and  furnishing  a 
central  court.  Stimson  Hall  was  formally  opened  on 
May  8,  1903,  in  the  presence  of  the  trustees,  faculty, 
and  students  of  the  medical  college,  by  an  address  from 
Dr.  Lewis  A.  Stimson,  for  whom  it  was  named.  Dr. 
Stimson  paid  the  following  graceful  tribute  to  the 
donor  of  the  college: 

''  This  beautiful  hall,  henceforth  to  be  devoted  to  the 
study  of  anatomy  and  physiology,  is  notable  not  merely 
as  a  generous  gift,  but  still  more  as  an  evidence  of  the 
continuance  of  a  sagacious  and  generous  interest  in 
Cornell  University  bequeathed  to  and  maintained  by  the 
son  of  one  whose  influence  for  good  in  the  history  of 
the  university  has  been  paramount.  When  the  life  of 
Ezra  Cornell  ended,  Henry  W.  Sage  brought  to  the 
development  and  support  of  the  resources  of  the  univer- 
sity the  wisdom,  foresight,  and  generosity  which  estab- 
lished it  upon  a  secure  foundation  and  made  possible 
that  growth,  the  rapidity,  the  breadth,  and  the  wise 


344      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

direction  of  which  have  made  it  pre-eminent  among  in- 
stitutions of  its  kind.  And  now  his  son,  Dean  Sage, 
has  added  another  to  those  gifts  with  which  the  chil- 
dren have  supplemented  and  extended  the  work  and 
the  liberality  of  their  father. 

*'  The  brightness  of  this  occasion  and  the  joyous 
anticipations  with  which  we  were  prepared  to  gather 
here  have  been  grievously  overcast  by  the  untimely 
death  of  the  giver  just  as  the  building  approached  its 
completion.  It  was  Dean  Sage's  desire  that  his  con- 
nection with  this  gift  should  not  be  generally  known 
and  that  no  prominence  should  be  given  to  it  on  this 
occasion,  but  his  death  has  removed  that  injunction, 
and  it  has  become  a  pious  duty  to  make  acknowledg- 
ment of  it  now,  and  not  only  of  it  but  also  of  the  other 
munificent  gifts  he  made  to  Cornell  University,  either 
alone  or  in  association  with  his  brother.  From  him 
came,  thirty  years  ago,  the  liberal  fund  of  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  which  endows  the  pulpit  of  the  chapel, 
and  from  them  jointly  came  the  gift  of  the  infirmary 
and  its  endowment  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

*'  Warm-hearted,  broad-minded,  and  of  bountiful 
generosity,  he  was  not  satisfied  simply  to  meet  the 
demands  made  upon  him,  but  he  went  out  in  search  of 
opportunity;  and  his  beneficence  included  not  only 
gifts  of  money  to  institutions  and  his  frequent  and 
secret  extension  of  individual  aid  to  young  men  and 
women  in  the  obtaining  of  an  education,  but  it  also  led 
to  personal  labor  in  furthering  many  public  causes  in 
which  labor  is  great  and  the  return  too  often  scanty 
and  tardy.  His  was  continuity  of  purpose  and  persist- 
ence of  effort.  And  with  it  went  such  a  shrinking  from 
praise,  and  even  acknowledgment,  that  we  wlio  are 
cognizant  of  a  part  of  what  he  did,  find  a  tearful  satis- 
faction in  this  opportunity  to  render  that  homage  and 
make  those  acknowledgments  which  were  impossible 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      345 

during  his  lifetime,  and  to  offer  as  a  due  heritage  to 
his  family  the  expression  of  our  affectionate  apprecia- 
tion and  esteem  which  he  himself  shrank  from  re- 
ceiving. 

"  I  find  pleasure  in  the  thought  that  hidden  in  this 
very  gift  is  an  evidence  of  the  affection  and  warm- 
heartedness which  so  endeared  him  to  his  friends;  for 
it  is  associated  with,  and  it  supplements  the  aims  and 
the  work  of  that  other  great  benefaction  which  so 
recently  came  to  the  university  from  one  who  had  long 
been  Dean  Sage's  intimate  friend  and  close  associate. 
And  I  doubt  not  that  Sage  found  in  this  association 
with  the  work  of  his  friend  a  gratification  which  was 
more  personal  and  attractive  to  him  even  than  that 
which  came  from  the  knowledge  that  his  gift  made 
closer  the  connection  between  the  medical  department 
in  New  York  City  and  the  parent  body  in  Ithaca,  and 
provided  both  for  the  education  of  students  and  also 
for  that  investigation  and  research  which  mark  the 
difference  betwen  a  university  and  a  school  of  instruc- 
tion." 

Franklin  Hall  had  been  erected  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  departments  of  physics  and  chemistry  in 
the  years  1881-82.  At  that  time  the  entire  number  of 
students  receiving  instruction  in  physics  did  not  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  students,  which  began  with  a  class 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven,  graduating  in  1888, 
and  which  has  increased  to  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  in  1904,  had  made  demands  upon  the  department 
of  physics  which  it  was  impossible  for  it  to  meet. 
It  was  necessary  for  it  to  afford  instruction  to  all 
students  in  the  technical  courses,  as  well  as  to  those 
who  elected  this  subject  from  the  College  of  Arts  and 
Sciences.  Temporary  relief  would  have  been  ob- 
tained by  the  erection  of  Morse  Hall  for  the  study  of 


346      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

chemistry,  had  not  the  rapid  increase  in  numbers  far 
surpassed  the  number  for  which  provision  had  been 
made  in  the  department  of  chemistry.  There  was  a 
lack  of  lecture  rooms  of  adequate  size,  so  that  it  was 
necessary  for  the  professor  of  physics  to  repeat 
his  lectures  in  order  that  all  students  in  the  general 
courses  in  physics  might  be  accommodated.  There 
was  also  a  lack  of  adequate  rooms  for  experimentation 
and  suitable  laboratories.  More,  perhaps,  than  all 
this  was  the  additional  demand  for  instruction  in 
physics  made  by  the  new  discoveries  in  electricity. 

Under  these  circumstances,  President  Schurman 
presented  to  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller  the  needs  of  the 
department,  needs  which  it  was  impossible  for  the 
university  to  supply  without  impairing  its  endowment. 
After  a  careful  examination  of  the  university  on  the 
side  of  its  material  equipment,  its  finances,  and  its  edu- 
cational needs,  Mr.  Rockefeller  offered,  on  May  27, 
1901,  ''  to  give  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  a  building  to  be 
devoted  to  physics,  or  to  the  humanities  {i.  e.,  lan- 
guage, literature,  philosophy,  etc.),  if  funds  for  the 
former  building  shall  have  been  otherwise  provided, 
upon  the  condition  of  the  raising  of  an  equal  amount 
of  money  from  friends,  of  which  at  least  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  shall  be  invested  in  approved  secur- 
ities or  in  a  dormitory,  the  income  from  which  shall 
be  available  for  the  maintenance  of  the  building  to  be 
erected  under  this  pledge. ' '  A  site  for  the  new  Rocke- 
feller Hall  was  found  by  removing  the  professors'  cot- 
tages on  East  and  Reservoir  avenues,  north  of  Pro- 
fessor Hammond's.  The  architects  were  Messrs. 
Carrere  and  Hastings,  and  the  building  was  begun  in 
the  summer  of  1904.  Rockefeller  Hall  is  to  be  of  red 
brick  with  a  stone  foundation  extending  to  the  first 
floor,  and  rising  to  the  height  of  three  stories  above 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     347 


the  ground  floor.  The  west  front  of  the  building  will 
extend  for  258  feet  along  East  Avenue,  from  which 
parallel  wings  will  extend  to  the  east  157  X  73  feet 
and  144  X  53  feet  respectively,  and  which  will  be  con- 
nected on  the  east  by  a  wing,  135  X  56  feet.  The 
dynamo  laboratory  will  extend  along  the  south  side  of 
Reservoir  Avenue,  and  will  be  one  story  in  height,  130 
feet  long,  and  60  feet  wide.  It  will  contain  offices, 
apparatus  rooms,  and  a  large  floor  for  machinery 
100  X  60  feet.  The  ground  floor  of  the  main  building 
rests  upon  a  massive  foundation  of  concrete,  and  will 
be  devoted  primarily  to  research  work  in  physics. 
The  first  floor  will  be  given  up  to  classrooms,  small 
lecture  rooms,  offices,  general  library,  and,  in  the  north 
wing,  the  alternating-current  laboratory  and  stand- 
ardization rooms;  on  the  second  floor  will  be  placed 
the  sophomore  and  junior  laboratories,  and,  in  the 
south  wing,  a  large  lecture  room  seating  six  hundred, 
and  a  smaller  one  seating  about  two  hundred;  while 
the  third  floor  will  be  devoted  to  apparatus  rooms, 
museum,  and  extensive  photographic  laboratories. 

In  the  year  1903  the  income  of  the  university  was 
sufficient  to  make  it  possible  to  proceed  with  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Hall  of  the  Humanities.  An  appropriation 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  five  years  out  of 
the  income  of  the  university  was  made  to  defray  the 
cost  and  equipment  of  this  hall.  Various  suggestions 
respecting  its  proper  location  were  made  and  several 
resolutions  passed  before  the  site  chosen  was  finally 
adopted.  It  was  felt  by  the  faculty  that  a  hall  of  the 
humanities  should  be  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  library.  It  should  also  be  in  the  center  of  uni- 
versity life,  so  that  access  to  it  by  students  from  all  de- 
partments receiving  instruction  therein  should  be  pos- 
sible. At  the  same  time  it  was  desirable  to  preserve 
the  stone  quadrangle.     The  judgment  of  the  faculty  was 


348      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

that  the  hall  should  be  located  either  opposite  Board- 
man  Hall  or  upon  the  east  side  of  the  campus,  thus 
completing  the  quadrangle.  A  decision  was  reached  in 
favor  of  the  latter  site,  and  Messrs.  Carrere  and  Hast- 
ings, of  New  York,  were  chosen  as  the  architects.  The 
Goldwin  Smith  Hall  is  to  be  an  E-shaped  building 
of  gray  Ohio  sandstone,  380  feet  in  length  and  54 
feet  in  depth,  with  two  wings  extending  to  the  east 
towards  East  Avenue,  each  90  feet  in  length.  At  each 
end  of  the  main  building  there  will  be  a  large  squarely- 
roofed  lecture  room  seating  about  200  persons,  while 
midway  between  the  two  wings  there  will  be  a  third 
lecture  room,  semicircular  in  form,  seating  about  300. 
The  need  of  large  lecture  rooms,  intermediate  in  size, 
for  public  lectures,  has  been  greatly  felt.  The  archae- 
ological museum  will  be  established  on  the  ground 
floor  with  adjacent  rooms  for  class  work  in  archsBology. 
The  departments  of  Semitics,  Greek,  Latin,  English, 
and  German  will  be  accommodated  on  the  first  floor; 
those  of  Romance  languages,  philosophy,  education, 
history,  and  political  science  on  the  second;  and  in  the 
third  story,  which  is  concealed  in  the  roof,  there  will 
be  a  large  study  and  reading-room,  lighted  from  above. 
In  addition  to  abundant  and  generous  classrooms, 
liberal  provision  will  also  be  made  for  departmental 
offices  and  studies. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  Goldwin  Smith  Hall  was 
laid  by  the  venerable  professor  of  history  on  October 
19,  1904.  The  literary  exercises  in  connection  with 
this  event  were  held  in  the  armory,  where  addresses 
were  delivered  by  President  Schurman,  ex-President 
White,  and  by  Dean  Crane  in  behalf  of  the  faculty. 
President  Schurman  in  behalf  of  the  university  thus 
spoke  of  the  services  of  Professor  Smith  to  the  uni- 
versity : 

"  In  October,  1903, — just  twelve  months  ago, — I  had 


f. 


<i/^<?^^^<^,>-«^ 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     349 


the  honor  of  presenting  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  a 
resolution  in  regard  to  the  designation  of  this  new  hall 
of  the  humanities  at  Cornell.  I  asked  the  trustees  to 
name  it  the  Goldwin  Smith  Hall.  The  trustees  unani- 
mously and  cordiall}^  adopted  this  proposal.  And  this 
action  of  the  president  and  trustees  has  been  ratified 
with  one  approving  voice  by  the  members  of  our  entire 
imiversity  community — by  professors  and  undergrad- 
uates here  and  by  old  students  and  alumni  in  the  larger 
world  outside, — as  not  only  eminently  appropriate,  but 
so  appropriate  that  no  alternative  is  conceivable. 

"  We  honor  Goldwin  Smith  as  one  of  the  early  pro- 
fessors of  Cornell.  He  came  to  the  youngest  of 
American  universities  from  the  oldest  university  in  the 
English-speaking  world — from  Oxford,  where,  after  a 
distinguished  career  of  scholarship,  he  had  held  the 
Regius  professorship  of  history, — and  his  great  repu- 
tation as  a  man  of  letters,  an  historian,  and  a  publicist, 
at  once  reflected  luster  upon  our  new  and  struggling 
university. 

' '  We  honor  Goldwin  Smith  as  the  constant  friend  of 
Cornell  University.  A  generation  ago,  when  the  insti- 
tution was  the  object  of  cruel  attacks  and  its  very  life 
was  in  danger,  he  stood  on  this  campus  on  a  memorable 
occasion  and  repelled  the  outrageous  and  malicious 
charges  that  had  been  leveled  against  the  founder  and 
against  the  management  of  the  university.  Nay,  more, 
he  expressed,  even  in  those  dark  days,  a  serene  and 
confident  and  almost  exultant  hope  of  the  great  future 
of  the  university — the  future  which  in  some  measure 
we  now  see  about  us  an  actuality.  '  No  one,'  he  said, 
'  can  yet  exactly  predict  what  form  the  institution  will 
ultimately  take;  but  I  believe  it  will  be  a  great  and 
good  institution,  and  one  which  any  man  will  feel  it 
an  honor  to  serve.  I  have  believed  it  an  honor  to  serve 
it.     My  affections  for  it  are  unchanged.     My  hopes  for 


350      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

it  are  unabated.'  And  this  has  been  his  constant  atti- 
tude ever  since.  Long  may  this  devoted  friend  con- 
tinue to  be  our  emeritus  professor  of  history ! 

"  We  honor  Goldwin  Smith  as  the  friend  of  our  re- 
public. In  the  dark  days  of  the  Civil  War,  when  the 
sympathy  of  European  nations  was  against  the  Union, 
he  was  its  champion  and  defender.  With  John  Bright, 
Cobden,  John  Stuart  Mill,  and  kindred  spirits  Goldwin 
Smith  set  himself  the  task  of  informing  and  clarifying 
public  opinion  in  England  on  the  issues  of  the  Civil 
War;  and,  thanks  to  that  enlightened  public  opinion, 
the  English  government,  in  spite  of  great  temptations, 
maintained  a  perfectly  proper  attitude  towards  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

'*  We  honor  Goldwin  Smith  as  the  friend  and  cham- 
pion of  democracy,  liberty,  and  peace  among  the 
nations.  There  lives  to-day  no  truer  apostle  of  the 
American  doctrine  of  government  of  the  people,  for  the 
people,  and  by  the  people.  Nor  lives  there  a  man  of 
keener  discernment  of  tyranny,  whether  it  be  the 
tyranny  of  monarchs,  the  tyranny  of  transient,  pop- 
ular majorities,  or  the  tyranny  that  masks  as  national 
beneficence.  Individual  freedom,  national  independ- 
ence, and  the  reign  of  justice  and  universal  peace  and 
happiness  of  the  masses  of  mankind  are  the  ends  for 
which  this  publicist  has  consistently  striven  with  voice 
and  pen,  alike  in  England  and  in, America.  It  is  a 
record  to  thrill  the  spirit  alike  of  ingenuous  youth  and 
of  noble-minded  age. 

"  We  honor  Goldwin  Smith  as  the  exponent  and 
exemplar  of  the  highest  culture  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. His  spirit  has  been  nurtured  and  formed  by  the 
best  literature  of  classical  antiquity  and  of  modern 
times.  As  an  historian  he  has  striven  like  Plato 's  wise 
man  to  be  a  spectator  of  all  time  and  all  existence. 
Thus  more  easily  than  most  men  he  has  adjusted  him- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      351 

self  to  the  changes  in  the  world  which  he  has  now  sur- 
veyed for  more  than  fourscore  years.  Literary  man 
though  he  is,  he  has  welcomed  the  progress  of  science 
and  willingly  accepted  its  general  theoretical  results. 
Nor  have  the  deep  and  dark  problems  of  philosophy 
daunted  this  intrepid  searcher  after  truth.  What,  in 
view  of  existing  knowledge,  can  reasonably  be  affirmed, 
he  has  not  hesitated  to  affirm — nor  has  he  scrupled  to 
remain  in  doubt  where  the  plummet  of  his  spirit  could 
touch  no  bottom.  I  call  him,  all  considered,  as  perfect 
an  exemplar  as  lives  to-day  of  the  knowledge,  culture, 
and  thought  of  our  time. 

"  May  the  years  fall  gently  and  graciously  on  the 
head  of  this  learned,  thoughtful,  and  noble  man. 

"  May  the  blessing  of  Providence  rest  on  the  Gold- 
win  Smith  Hall  which  to-day,  in  his  honor,  we  dedicate 
to  the  liberal  culture  of  the  human  spirit. 

**  It  is  our  privilege  to  welcome  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith 
in  person  to-day.  I  trust  he  already  knows  how  much 
we  appreciate  his  presence  and  what  admiration  and 
affection  we  entertain  for  him.  I  shall  not  keep  him 
longer  from  you  in  the  vain  task  of  endeavoring  to 
express  the  emotions  his  name  and  presence  awaken 
in  our  bosoms.  [Turning  to  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith.]  I 
have  the  honor  to  present  you,  sir,  to  the  trustees,  the 
faculty,  and  the  students  of  Cornell  University." 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith  delivered  the  following 
brief  and  touching  address,  beautiful  with  memory  of 
the  past,  and  full  of  hope  for  the  future  of  the  univer- 
sity: 

**  You  have  bidden  me  to  lay  the  first  stone  of  a 
noble  building  to  be  dedicated  to  art  and  culture.  You 
are  going  to  call  the  building  after  my  name.  How 
can  I  acknowledge  the  honor?  You  know  perhaps  the 
passage  in  Boswell's  '  Johnson,'  describing  the  in- 
terview of  Johnson  with  his  king.     Johnson  is  reading 


352      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

in  the  royal  library.  The  king  enters,  goes  up  to  him, 
and  pays  him  a  high  compliment.  Johnson  receives  it 
in  silence.  '  If  the  king  said  it,'  he  explained  after- 
ward, '  it  was  to  be  so;  it  was  not  for  me  to  bandy 
compliments  with  my  king. '  So,  I  say,  '  If  the  univer- 
sity wills  it,  it  is  to  be  so;  it  is  not  for  me  to  bandy 
compliments  with  the  university. '  The  honor  is  deeply 
felt,  and  he  on  whom  it  is  conferred  heartily  wishes 
that  it  had  been  better  earned. 

' '  A  long  life  now  at  its  close  has  many  memories  of 
mingled  happiness  and  pain.  One  memory  is  un- 
alloyed. Bright  in  my  life,  though  dark  and  sad  with 
rain,  was  the  November  morning  in  the  year  1868  on 
which  I  landed  from  the  night  train  in  Ithaca,  was 
received  by  Andrew  White,  and  afterward  taken  out 
by  Ezra  Cornell  to  the  campus  on  which  then  stood 
one  poor  block, — which  now  is  covered  with  the  stately 
buildings  and  is  joyous  with  student  life  of  the  great 
Cornell  University. 

"  However,  it  is  not  what  I  have  done  or  was  capable 
of  doing,  but  what  I  represent.  This  building  is  to  be 
partly  dedicated  to  the  culture  of  which  the  old  Eng- 
lish schools  and  universities  were  the  special  seats. 
That  culture,  an  Eton  boy  and  a  graduate  of  Oxford, 
before  university  reform  and  the  recall  of  science  and 
modern  studies  to  the  curriculum,  may  be  said  to  rep- 
resent in  the  most  antiquated  form.  Classical  culture 
has  been  dethroned,  even  at  Oxford — not  killed  or  ban- 
ished. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  and  culture  generally, 
though  they  have  largely  and  inevitably  given  way, 
especially  in  an  industrial  land  like  this,  to  the  prac- 
tical sciences  and  the  utilities,  will  yet  live.  For  for- 
tunes have  not  only  to  be  won,  but  to  be  worthily 
enjoyed. 

"  An  emeritus  professor  of  Cornell,  who  is  also  an 
ex-professor  of  Oxford,  may  perhaps  be  taken  to  repre- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      353 


sent  the  sisterhood  of  universities,  American  and  Euro- 
pean, which,  amidst  all  this  angry  conflict  of  contend- 
ing factions,  this  murderous  strife  of  nations  in  more 
than  bloody  wars,  these  desperate  wrestlings  for  terri- 
torial empire,  is  calmly  doing  its  appointed  work  of 
education,  of  the  advancement  of  science,  of  general 
enlightenment,  and  laying  broad  and  deep  the  founda- 
tions of  the  empire  which  alone  is  universal  and  alone 
will  endure  without  end. 

"  Mention  has  been  made  of  the  part  played  by  me 
in  relation  to  your  Civil  War.  In  this,  too,  I  was  but 
a  representative.  The  hand  which  I  laid  in  that  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  my  own  but  that  of  the 
great  party  in  England,  headed  by  Bright  and  Cobden, 
which  was  true  to  your  cause  in  its  darkest  days.  True 
to  your  cause  in  its  darkest  days,  let  me  always  repeat, 
was  the  great  mass  of  the  English  people, — though  the 
war  deprived  them  of  the  cotton  by  which  millions  of 
them  lived. 

"  Perhaps,  even  as  the  native  of  another  country, 
so  kindly  welcomed,  so  heartily  admitted  to  partner- 
ship in  a  great  work  so  richly  rewarded  here,  I  may  be 
taken,  as  the  recipient  of  this  honor,  to  represent  a 
still  wider  unity  than  that  of  the  sisterhood  of  uni- 
versities. On  the  campus,  I  see,  still  stands  a  stone 
seat,  graven  by  the  hands  of  English  workmen  who 
came  out  to  see  me  here,  with  the  inscription,  '  Above 
all  Nations  is  Humanity.' 

"  I  fear  I  am  bidding  a  long  farewell  to  Cornell  and 
all  the  objects  of  my  long  interest  and  attachment  here. 
I  do  it  with  a  full  heart  of  affection  and  gratitude. 
Often,  on  the  distant  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  I  shall 
hear  the  chimes  of  Cornell.  The  golden  fruits  of  all 
kinds  which  the  university  has  borne  since  I  met  her 
founder  here  may  she  continue  to  bear,  and  in  ever- 
increasing  measure,  through  the  years  to  come." 


354      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

In  the  minds  of  those  present,  the  pensive  character 
of  his  words  caused  the  address  to  assume  the  form  of 
a  valedictory  and  a  farewell  to  the  scenes  which  had 
been  associated  with  his  labors  and  affections  for 
thirty-six  years. 

A  new  power  plant  was  erected  in  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1904,  at  an  expense  of  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, which  was  appropriated  from  the  income  of  the 
university  for  the  years  1901-02.  ''  This  consists  of 
a  stone  gate-house  near  Beebe  Lake  (whence  the  water 
is  drawn),  from  which  a  five-foot  conduit  or  tunnel 
leads  underground  along  the  top  of  the  north  cliff  to  a 
point  above  the  present  power-house,  and  is  there 
joined  by  a  second  conduit  inclining  down  through  the 
rock  to  the  new  power-house  in  the  bed  of  the  stream. ' ' 

"  The  past  year  has  also  seen  the  completion  of  the 
Carnegie  Filtration  Plant,  the  gift  of  Mr.  Andrew  Car- 
negie, which  has  been  located  on  the  hill  to  the  east 
of  the  site  selected  for  the  agricultural  buildings.  The 
building,  which  is  simple  and  direct  in  design,  is  con- 
structed with  plain  red-brick  walls,  relieved  by  a  cor- 
nice of  stucco,  the  whole  composition  deriving  char- 
acter and  repose  from  a  roof  of  dark  red  tiles  with 
broad,  overhanging  eaves.  The  filtration  plant  itself 
is  unique  both  in  design  and  construction,  for  while  it 
is  planned  primarily  with  a  view  to  furnishing  an 
abundant  supply  of  absolutely  pure  water  for  the  uni- 
versity community,  it  will  also  be  used  incidentally  for 
the  purposes  of  scientific  research,  whereby  it  is  hoped 
information  and  data  relative  to  water  filtration  may 
be  obtained  of  value  to  the  scientific  world.  A  large 
coagulation  basin,  constructed  of  concrete  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  hydrostatic  arch,  and  containing  two 
stories  and  four  compartments  arranged  in  such  a  way 
that  one  or  all  can  be  used  as  desired,  receives  the  raw 
water  from  the  pumping  station  in  the  Fall  Creek 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      355 

Gorge,  whence  the  supply  is  drawn.  Before  entering 
the  coagulation  basin,  however,  the  water  is  charged 
with  a  solution  of  aluminum  sulphate,  fed  into  it  by  a 
system  of  gravity  from  two  mixing  tanks,  which  are 
in  turn  supplied  with  the  sulphate  from  two  dissolving 
tanks.  After  a  period  of  sedimentation,  during  which 
the  greater  part  of  the  impurities  in  the  water  are 
removed,  the  water  is  passed  on  to  the  sand  filters,  two 
in  number,  and  each  of  a  daily  capacity  of  over  300,000 
gallons,  where  it  is  relieved  of  all  remaining  impurities. 
It  is  then  collected  in  a  pure  water  well  of  28,000  gal- 
lons capacity  beneath  the  filters.  From  here  it  is  fed 
through  pipes  into  the  imiversity  reservoir,  which  has 
in  turn  been  enlarged  to  a  capacity  of  about  1,250,000 
gallons  and  covered  with  a  steel  roof." 

The  National  Land  Grant  Act  required  that  every 
state  which  availed  itself  of  the  provisions  of  that  act 
should  provide  a  college  building  for  the  purpose  speci- 
fied by  Congress.  The  state,  in  accepting  this  act, 
bound  itself  to  provide  a  building  for  the  purposes 
stated  in  the  act.  This  obligation  the  state  had  never 
discharged.  Agricultural  instruction  in  the  university 
has  suffered  from  the  lack  of  an  adequate  home.  The 
valuable  work  which  the  university  has  done  in  pro- 
moting the  interests  of  the  farmers  of  the  state, — spe- 
cial courses  in  agriculture  for  farmers'  boys,  the  hold- 
ing of  farmers'  institutes,  the  investigation  of  disease 
of  fruit  orchards  and  in  live  stock, — had  won  the  grati- 
tude of  the  farmers  of  the  state ;  hence  the  demand  that 
the  state  should  make  adequate  provision  for  agricul- 
tural education.  Farmers'  associations  throughout 
the  state  were  unanimous  in  this  request,  and  it  became 
imperative  for  the  legislators  of  the  state  to  bow  to 
the  demand  so  universal. 

Governor  Odell  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  other 
commonwealths  had  contributed  largely  to  the  support 


356      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

of  agricultural  education,  and  that  it  was  important 
that  the  state  of  New  York  should  make  adequate  pro- 
vision for  this  necessary  instruction.  He  added: 
''  There  have  been  many  applications  from  the  agri- 
cultural interests  for  such  recognition.  Without 
making  any  specific  recommendations  as  to  the  line 
which  you  should  follow,  I  had  desired  to  impress  upon 
you  the  necessity  for  complying  with  these  demands, 
which  I  believe  to  be  reasonable  and  in  the  interest  of 
New  York. ' '  This  legislation  was  actively  opposed  by 
the  presidents  of  several  of  the  colleges  of  the  state. 
Unmindful  of  the  fact  that  their  colleges  did  not  pro- 
vide the  instruction  in  agriculture,  and  that  they  were 
not  in  a  condition  to  do  so,  and  that  Cornell  University 
had  furnished  the  only  instruction  of  this  kind  which 
the  vast  agricultural  interests  of  the  state  had  ever 
enjoyed,  every  possible  instrumentality  was  used  to 
defeat  the  legislation  desired.  Had  the  purpose  of  the 
bill  been  to  secure  an  appropriation  for  literary  and 
scientific  subjects,  which  these  institutions  afforded, 
such  opposition  would  have  had  an  apparent  justifica- 
tion; but  as  made,  this  hostility  was  directed  against 
a  beneficent  provision  in  the  interests  of  popular  edu- 
cation. The  legislature  passed  a  bill  appropriating 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  a  college 
of  agriculture  at  Cornell.  The  trustees  selected  a  site 
on  the  east  side  of  Garden  Avenue,  a  new  avenue  ex- 
tending from  the  reservoir  southward  to  Cascadilla 
Gorge  and  in  a  line  parallel  with  East  Avenue,  on  an 
elevation  presenting  a  splendid  panorama  of  all  the 
surrounding  country.  The  state  architect,  George  L. 
Heins,  will  be  the  architect  of  the  new  building. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARY 

THE  formal  opening  of  the  university  may 
fitly  be  taken  by  the  annalist  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  library's  independent  existence; 
but  the  principles  which  were  to  guide  its 
formation  and  growth  had  been  clearly  laid  down  in 
the  ''  report  of  the  committee  on  organization,"  and, 
of  necessity,  much  had  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  collect- 
ing books  before  the  library  could  be  said  to  have  an 
existence.  At  the  sixth  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, held  September  26,  1867,  an  appropriation  of 
$7,500  for  the  purchase  of  books  was  made,  which  was 
increased  to  $11,000  at  the  meeting  of  February  13, 
1868.  To  all  who  were  engaged  in  the  preparations 
for  establishing  a  fully  equipped  university  on  what 
had  been  till  then  a  mere  hillside  farm,  the  summer  of 
1868  was  an  exceedingly  busy  season.  One  of  the  first 
purchases  for  the  new  university — the  classical  library 
of  Charles  Anthon,  numbering  over  6,000  volumes— had 
already  been  made.  In  the  spring,  President  White 
had  gone  to  Europe,  armed  with  formidable  lists  of 
books  and  apparatus  to  be  collected,  and  made  large 
purchases  of  scientific  and  literary  works,  one  of  the 
most  important  of  his  acquisitions  being  the  library  of 
Franz  Bopp,  the  famous  philologist.  Thus  cases  of 
books  and  apparatus  began  to  arrive  long  before  any 
place  was  prepared  to  receive  them.  A  temporary 
shelter,  however,  was  found  for  the  books  in  the  halls 
and  attic  rooms  of  the  Cornell  Library  in  this  city. 
At  the  opening  day  in  October,  the  only  university 

357 


358      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

building  under  cover  was  Morrill  Hall,  better  known  to 
old  Cornellians  as  the  South  Building.  Of  this  build- 
ing the  middle  section  alone  was  available  for  library, 
lecture  rooms,  and  laboratories,  both  wings  being 
wholly  occupied  as  dormitories. 

To  the  library  were  assigned  the  two  rooms  on  the 
ground  floor,  the  present  faculty  room,  and  the  regis- 
trar's office.  The  walls  of  these  rooms  were  lined  with 
tall  bookcases,  extending  to  the  ceiling.  Some  of  these 
bookcases,  it  may  be  noted,  had  already  done  service  in 
the  library  of  the  short-lived  State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege at  Ovid.  These  wall  bookcases,  however,  were  by 
no  means  adequate  to  contain  all  the  books  even  then 
received,  and  when  the  university  opened,  thousands 
of  volumes  were  still  stored  away  in  boxes.  Nor  was 
there  immediate  prospect  of  obtaining  more  shelf- 
room.  Indeed,  so  great  and  so  urgent  was  the  demand 
for  more  classrooms,  it  was  found  necessary  to  hold 
lectures  and  recitations  in  the  rooms  occupied  by  the 
library,  much  to  the  inconvenience  of  readers,  who  were 
thus,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  deprived  of 
the  use  of  the  books.  This  state  of  things  continued 
throughout  the  first  two  terms,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  third.  For  though  it  was  promised  in  January, 
1869,  that  within  a  few  weeks,  at  most,  the  new  labora- 
tory building  would  be  completed,  to  which  the  lectures 
held  in  the  library  rooms  would  then  be  transferred,  yet 
in  this  case,  as  in  so  many  others,  hopes  proved  de- 
lusive, and  it  was  not  until  April  that  the  laboratory 
building  was  ready  for  occupancy,  and  May  was  well 
advanced  before  the  books  were  fully  in  order  on  the 
shelves.  Comparatively  little  use  was  made  of  the  li- 
brary by  the  students  in  the  first  year. 

In  December,  1868,  the  librarian,  Professor  Willard 
Fiske,  arrived  and  took  charge  of  the  library,  which 
was  under  his  direction  from  that  time  until  his  resig- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      359 


nation  in  1883.  In  the  latter  part  of  1868,  the  British 
government  presented  to  the  library  a  complete  set  of 
Patent  Specifications,  and  estimates  were  obtained  of 
the  cost  of  binding  them ;  but  as  it  was  found  that  the 
binding  would  cost  about  $6,000,  a  sum  which  could  not 
well  be  spared  just  then,  they  were  ordered  to  be  stored 
in  London  until  a  more  convenient  season.  There  they 
remained  until  1880,  when  a  special  appropriation  was 
made  for  binding  them,  and  finally,  in  1881,  this  great 
set,  numbering  over  two  thousand  seven  hundred  vol- 
umes, was  received  and  shelved  in  the  tower  of  the 
McGraw  building.  From  a  memorandum  of  a  count  of 
the  library  made  about  the  first  of  January,  1869,  in- 
cluding, evidently,  only  the  books  then  upon  the  shelves 
in  Morrill  Hall,  it  appears  that  the  number  of  volumes 
in  the  two  rooms  was  15,400. 

About  this  time  Goldwin  Smith  generously  offered  to 
give  to  the  university  his  valuable  private  library,  com- 
prising some  3,400  volumes.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
offer  was  joyfully  accepted,  and  instructions  were  at 
once  sent  to  the  library's  agent  in  London  to  remove  the 
collection  from  Mortimer  House,  near  Reading,  where 
it  then  was,  and  forward  it  to  Ithaca.  Towards  the  end 
of  March  the  books  arrived,  but  the  task  of  arranging 
them  upon  the  shelves  was  deferred  until  the  summer 
vacation.  This,  it  may  be  observed,  was  but  the  be- 
ginning of  Goldwin  Smith's  benefactions  to  the  library. 
Later  he  gave  $2,500,  and  in  June  of  1870,  $1,000,  to  be 
spent  in  the  purchase  of  books ;  in  1871  he  gave  a  valu- 
able collection  of  works  on  Canadian  history,  and  from 
time  to  time  since  then  has  presented  many  important 
works. 

Meantime,  in  February,  1869,  John  McGraw,  seeing 
how  urgent  was  the  need  of  more  room  for  library  pur- 
poses, had  offered  to  erect  a  library  building  to  cost 
$50,000.     Archimedes   Russell,   a   Syracuse   architect, 


360      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

was  commissioned  to  prepare  the  plans,  and  in  the 
spring  the  excavations  for  the  foundations  of  the 
McGraw  building  were  begun.  At  the  first  Commence- 
ment of  the  university,  in  June,  1869,  the  corner  stone 
of  the  building  was  laid  with  Masonic  ceremonies,  and 
addresses  were  given  by  Stewart  L.  Woodford  and 
John  Stanton  Gould. 

At  the  opening  of  the  second  year,  in  September, 

1869,  the  library  still  occupied  its  first  quarters  in 
Morrill  Hall.  The  room  on  the  north  side  of  the  middle 
entrance  was  then  the  reading  room,  to  which  the  public 
entrance  was  at  the  west  end  of  the  central  hall.  Upon 
entering,  the  student  found  himself  in  a  room  about  fifty 
feet  in  length  by  twenty-five  in  breadth,  lighted  by  three 
windows  at  each  end,  the  walls  lined  from  floor  to  ceil- 
ing with  books.  The  central  portion  of  this  room,  a 
space  about  thirty-six  feet  long  and  twelve  wide, 
was  surrounded  by  pine  tables,  painted  a  dark  chocolate 
color,  and  surmounted  by  a  low  railing.  In  front  of 
these  tables  stood  benches  of  the  sort  then  used  in  all 
the  lecture  rooms,  a  few  specimens  of  which  may  still 
be  seen  in  some  of  the  smaller  classrooms  in  White 
Hall.  These  benches  afforded  seats  for  not  more  than 
forty  readers  at  the  most.  It  is  therefore  not  surpris- 
ing that  frequent  complaints  were  heard  of  lack  of  ac- 
conunodations  for  readers. 

In  this  room  the  encyclopedias,  periodicals,  and  the 
works  on  arts  and  sciences,  philosophy,  theology,  and 
law  were  placed.  In  the  corresponding  room  on  the 
south  side  of  the  hall  were  the  books  relating  to  phil- 
ology, literature,  history,  and  geography.    When,  in 

1870,  President  White  gave  to  the  university  his  val- 
uable collection  of  architectural  works,  with  a  sum  of 
money  for  its  increase,  as  there  was  no  space  available 
for  its  reception  in  either  of  these  two  rooms,  the  col- 
lection was  placed  in  the  small  room  at  the  southwest 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      361 


corner  of  Morrill  Hall,  now  the  treasurer's  office.  In 
this  year,  too,  the  pamphlets  and  unbound  periodicals 
had  become  so  numerous  that  the  room  now  occupied 
by  the  business  office  was  also  taken  possession  of  for 
library  purposes. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  an  effort,  which  was  all 
but  successful,  was  made  to  obtain  for  Cornell  the 
mathematical  library  of  W.  Hillhouse  of  Hartford,  but, 
owing  to  an  unfortunate  delay  in  transmitting  the  de- 
cision of  our  trustees  to  purchase  the  collection,  it  was 
secured  by  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School.  President 
White  generously  offered  to  subscribe  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  this  library,  and  to  give,  in  addition,  his  entire 
architectural  library— at  that  time  richer  than  the  en- 
tire corresponding  collections  in  the  Astor,  Yale,  and 
Harvard  libraries.  A  little  later  in  the  year,  however, 
William  Kelly  of  Rhinebeck,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
university,  gave  $2,250  for  the  purchase  of  mathemati- 
cal works  to  make  good  this  loss.  With  this  fund  over 
1,500  volumes  were  obtained,  to  which  the  name  of  the 
Kelly  Mathematical  Collection  was  given.  For  this 
collection  a  place  was  found  in  the  room  in  the  north- 
east corner  of  Morrill  Hall.  In  December,  1870,  the 
Rev.  S.  J.  May  of  Syracuse,  an  early  and  devoted  cham- 
pion of  the  abolition  movement,  presented  to  the  uni- 
versity his  collection  of  books  and  pamphlets  relating 
to  slavery.  This  was  the  beginning  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  May  Anti- Slavery  Collection.  A  few 
months  later,  it  was  largely  increased  by  gifts  from  R. 
D.  Webb  of  Dublin,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Pease  Nichols 
of  Edinburgh,  both  well-known  supporters  of  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  in  the  mother  country.  Since  then  the 
collection  has  received  many  additions  from  persons 
who  took  active  part  in  the  great  struggle  against 
slavery  in  this  country,  and  to-day  it  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  complete  collections  on  the  subject.     For  this^ 


362      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  the  rapidly  growing  newspaper  collection,  tem- 
porary accommodation  was  provided  in  the  room  now 
occupied  by  the  horticultural  department,  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  Morrill  Hall. 

In  June,  1871,  according  to  the  report  of  the  libra- 
rian, the  number  of  volumes  in  the  library  was  27,500, 
and  notwithstanding  the  increased  number  of  rooms 
which  were  occupied,  the  evils  of  overcrowding  were 
keenly  felt.  Meanwhile  the  walls  of  the  McGrraw  build- 
ing had  been  steadily  rising,  and  by  November  it  was 
so  far  advanced  toward  completion,  that  it  became 
necessary  to  decide  just  what  portion  of  it  should  be 
occupied  by  the  library,  in  order  that  the  needful  fit- 
tings might  be  prepared.  The  original  intention  seems 
to  have  been  to  lodge  the  library  on  the  second  floor, 
in  the  space  now  occupied  by  the  museum,  but  wiser 
counsels  prevailed,  and  it  was  finally  decided  that  the 
large  room  on  the  ground  floor,  which  had  at  first  been 
intended  for  a  great  lecture  hall,  should  be  made  the 
home  of  the  library,  leaving  the  second  floor  with  its 
galleries  free  for  museum  purposes. 

At  the  beginning  of  1872,  thanks  to  the  timely  aid  of 
Henry  W.  Sage,  who  advanced  money  for  its  purchase, 
the  university  fortunately  succeeded  in  securing  the 
Sparks  collection  of  American  history,  numbering  over 
5,000  volumes.  In  April  the  books  began  to  arrive,  but 
as  the  new  quarters  were  not  yet  ready,  and  there  was 
no  room  to  spare  in  the  old,  cheap  accommodation  was 
found  in  the  south  attic  room  of  the  new  building  and 
there  the  collection  found  temporary  shelter.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  library  at  this  time  was  most  inconven- 
iently situated,  occupying,  as  it  did,  six  widely  sepa- 
rated and  unsuitable  rooms  in  Morrill  Hall,  and  one 
room  in  the  upper  story  of  the  McGraw  building.  It 
was  hoped  that  the  summer  of  1872  would  see  these 
disjecta  membra  brought  together,  and  the  whole  li- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      363 

brary  made  readily  accessible  to  students.  But  again 
our  hopes  were  disappointed;  the  summer  passed,  and 
autumn  was  well  advanced  before  the  new  quarters 
were  ready  for  occupancy.  At  last,  on  the  5th  of  Oc- 
tober, the  task  of  moving  the  books  was  begun,  and  for 
several  weeks  the  library  was  closed  to  readers  while 
the  books  were  being  transported  from  the  old  build- 
ing to  the  new.  The  work  was  mainly  performed  by 
students,  who  carried  the  books  in  boxes  from  the  va- 
rious rooms  in  Morrill  Hall  to  the  new  quarters,  where 
they  were  speedily  arranged  and  placed  on  the  shelves 
in  substantially  the  same  order.  On  Monday,  Novem- 
ber 18,  the  library  was  opened  to  students  in  its  second 
home,  a  large  room,  with  alcoves  on  either  side  and 
reading  tables  in  the  central  space.  In  the  year  1873, 
Mr.  Cornell  purchased  and  presented  to  the  library  an 
interesting  collection,  comprising  the  books  on  electro- 
magnetism  and  the  early  history  of  the  telegraph,  for- 
merly owned  by  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  with  whom  Mr.  Cornell 
had  been  associated  in  the  construction  of  the  first  tel- 
egraph line  between  Baltimore  and  Washington.  A 
memorandum  of  a  count  of  the  books  made  in  June, 
1873,  shows  that  the  number  of  volumes  on  the  shelves 
was  then  34,100,  exclusive  of  8,000  pamphlets. 

Up  to  this  point  in  its  history,  the  growth  of  the 
library,  though  somewhat  irregular  and  spasmodic,  had 
been  rapid,  and  its  career  prosperous.  But  not  long 
after  its  removal  to  the  McGraw  building,  the  univer- 
sity entered  upon  a  period  of  financial  distress,  and  one 
of  the  first  departments  to  feel  the  pinch  of  poverty  was 
the  library.  One  after  another,  important  periodicals 
and  transactions  were  perforce  suffered  to  fall  into 
arrears,  and  purchases  of  new  books  became  fewer  and 
fewer.  In  1873,  the  librarian  made  an  appeal  for  a 
large  appropriation  for  immediate  use,  pointing  out 
that  though  the  acquisition  of  several  collections  had 


364      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

made  the  library  comparatively  rich  in  some  depart- 
ments, it  was  deplorably  weak  in  others,  and  urged  the 
necessity  of  an  annual  appropriation  of  at  least  $10,- 
000.  In  view  of  all  the  circumstances,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  appeal  was  made  in  vain.  Nor  is  it 
surprising  that  the  library  should  continue  to  fall  be- 
hind, when  we  find  that,  from  this  time  until  1880,  the 
regular  annual  appropriation  for  the  increase  and 
maintenance  of  the  library  was  only  $1,500.  In  1877 
the  librarian  reported  that,  during  the  past  year,  no 
orders  for  new  books  had  been  sent  abroad;  that  the 
total  number  of  volumes  added  during  the  year  was 
only  448 ;  that  376  of  these  had  been  presented,  so  that 
only  72  volumes  had  been  purchased;  that  of  these  72 
volumes,  56  were  continuations  of  serial  works,  leaving 
16  as  the  number  of  new  books  purchased  within  the 
year.  In  1878  and  1879  the  same  story  is  repeated  with 
very  slight  variations  in  the  numbers. 

At  last,  in  the  autumn  of  1880,  a  full  and  forcible 
statement  of  the  lamentable  condition  of  the  library, 
accompanied  by  an  urgent  appeal  for  relief,  was  pre- 
sented to  the  trustees,  and,  coming  at  a  more  favorable 
time  than  the  former  one,  it  met  with  greater  success. 
In  December  a  special  appropriation  of  $20,000  was 
made  for  the  increase  of  the  library,  of  which  $5,000 
was  available  for  immediate  use.  Large  orders  for 
books  were  at  once  dispatched,  and  in  the  annual  re- 
port of  June,  1881,  it  is  stated  that  800  volumes  of  new 
books  had  already  been  received,  and  many  arrears 
canceled. 

By  the  untimely  and  lamented  death  of  Mrs.  Jennie 
McGraw-Fiske,  in  September,  1881,  the  university  be- 
came the  recipient  of  a  fund,  which,  it  was  estimated, 
would  prove  to  be  not  less  than  a  million  dollars,  the 
income  of  which,  by  the  terms  of  Mrs.  Fiske  's  will,  was 
to  be  devoted  to  the  support,  increase,  and  maintenance 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      365 

of  the  university  library.  With  such  an  endowment 
the  future  of  the  library  seemed  secure,  and  the  hard- 
ships of  the  past  few  years  were  almost  forgotten  in 
glowing  anticipations  of  the  rapid  development  which 
was  now  to  begin.  In  1882  the  first  instalment  of  the 
fund,  some  $700,000,  was  received,  and  for  six  months 
the  library  enjoyed  the  income  of  this  fund.  In  July, 
1883,  however,  a  suit  contesting  the  will  was  begun,  and 
pending  the  issue  of  the  contest,  the  library,  deprived 
of  all  income  from  this  source,  had  to  rely  upon  annual 
appropriations  from  the  general  funds  of  the  univer- 
sity. Happily  these  appropriations  proved  to  be  more 
nearly  commensurate  with  its  needs  than  those  of 
former  years  had  been. 

Meantime,  however,  the  bequest  had  already  begun 
to  bear  fruit.  One  of  the  greatest  defects  of  the  li- 
brary had  always  been  the  lack  of  any  satisfactory  cat- 
alogue. Early  in  1882  it  was  decided  to  begin  at  once 
a  general  card  catalogue  of  the  books,  and  after  careful 
consideration  of  the  various  forms  of  catalogues  in 
vogue,  the  dictionary  system  was  chosen  as  being,  on 
the  whole,  better  adapted  to  the  use  of  our  students 
than  a  systematically  classified  catalogue,  which  would 
be  chiefly  of  service  to  trained  specialists. 

In  January,  1883,  a  statute  was  passed  establishing  a 
Library  Council,  composed  of  the  president  and  the  li- 
brarian, one  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  four 
members  of  the  faculty.  To  this  council  were  entrusted 
the  general  supervision  of  the  library  and  the  appor- 
tionment of  the  funds.  In  the  summer  of  this  year 
Professor  Willard  Fiske,  who  since  1868  had  wisely 
guided  the  development  of  the  library,  resigned  the 
office  of  librarian,  and  was  succeeded  by  G.  W. 
Harris,  who  had  served  as  assistant  librarian  since 
1873. 

The  removal  of  the  architectural  department  to  Mor- 


366      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

rill  Hall,  in  1883,  left  vacant  several  rooms  in  the 
north  wing  of  the  McGraw  building,  and  these  were 
taken  possession  of  by  the  library.  The  former 
draughting  room  was  fitted  up  as  a  seminary  room  and 
room  for  special  study  for  members  of  the  senior  class. 
The  two  smaller  rooms  on  the  west  side  of  the  hall  were 
given  to  the  cataloguing  department  and  the  biblio- 
graphical collection.  The  increasing  growth  of  the  li- 
brary, however,  called  for  still  further  extension  of  its 
quarters,  and  in  1884  plans  were  prepared  and  esti- 
mates obtained  for  the  conversion  of  the  present  geo- 
logical lecture  room  into  a  general  reading  room,  and 
for  the  erection  of  bookcases  in  the  lighter  portions  of 
the  existing  reading  room.  In  this  way  it  would  have 
been  possible,  at  slight  cost,  to  provide  suitably  for  the 
accessions  of  the  next  ten  years.  At  that  time,  how- 
ever, it  was  firmly  hoped  that  within  two  or  three  years 
the  contest  over  Mrs.  Fiske's  will  would  be  concluded, 
and  that  the  library  would  again  be  placed  in  the  pos- 
session of  its  endowment.  In  that  event  it  was  de- 
signed to  erect  at  once  a  fireproof  library  building,  and 
it  was  therefore  thought  best  to  make  no  further 
changes  in  the  present  building.  But  once  more  our 
hopes  were  dupes.  The  three  years  reached  seven  be- 
fore the  final  decision  came,  and  for  the  last  five  years 
of  this  period  the  overcrowded  condition  of  the  library 
was  a  source  of  constant  inconvenience  and  discomfort 
to  all  who  used  it.  Thousands  of  volumes  had  to  be 
stored  away  in  an  attic  room  where  they  were  almost 
inaccessible;  on  many  shelves  the  books  were  ranged 
in  double  rows ;  many  of  the  larger  volumes  were  piled 
upon  the  floor;  and  the  attempt  to  preserve  anything 
like  a  systematic  arrangement  of  the  books  by  sub- 
jects became  almost  hopeless. 

In  the  autumn  of  1884,  Eugene  Schuyler  gave  to  the 
library  a  valuable  collection,  numbering  some  six  hun- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      367 

dred  volumes,  chiefly  relating  to  folklore,  Russian  lit- 
erature and  history.  In  January,  1886,  the  electric  light 
was  introduced,  and  the  library  hours  which,  until  then, 
had  been  from  8  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m.,  were  greatly  lengthened. 
At  present  the  hours  are  from  8  a.  m.  to  11  p.  m.  in  term 
time.  In  1886  the  purchase  of  the  law  library  of  Mer- 
ritt  King,  numbering  some  four  thousand  volumes, 
made  an  admirable  beginning  of  a  library  for  the 
school  of  law  which  was  soon  after  established.  In 
January,  1887,  President  White  formally  presented  to 
the  university  his  great  historical  library,  containing 
over  twenty  thousand  volumes,  upon  condition  that  a 
fireproof  room  in  the  proposed  library  building  should 
be  provided  for  it,  and  suitable  provision  made  for  its 
increase.  At  that  time  the  will  suit  was  still  undecided, 
and  though  it  was  determined  to  procure  plans  for  a 
fireproof  library  building,  its  erection  seemed  likely 
to  be  delayed  for  several  years.  In  1888,  however, 
Henry  W.  Sage,  recognizing  the  need  for  immediate 
action,  generously  offered  to  provide  the  funds  for 
the  construction  of  the  building,  on  the  single  condition 
that  should  the  final  decision  in  the  will  suit  be  favor- 
able to  the  university,  the  money  advanced  for  this  pur- 
pose should  be  repaid.  Should,  however,  the  decision 
be  adverse,  the  building  was  to  become  the  gift  of  Mr. 
Sage,  who  also  declared  his  intention,  in  that  event,  to 
endow  the  library  with  a  fund  of  $300,000  for  its  in- 
crease. From  the  designs  submitted  to  the  trustees, 
that  of  W.  H.  Miller,  an  old  Cornellian,  was  selected, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1888  work  was  begun  upon  the 
foundations.  The  first  stone  of  the  foundation  walls 
was  laid  in  place  on  September  27,  1888.  The  corner 
stone  of  the  building  was  laid  with  public  and  formal 
ceremonies  on  October  30,  1889. 

In  May,  1890,  a  final  decision  in  the  will  contest  was 
given  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and 


368      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

by  it  the  library  was  entirely  deprived  of  the  endow- 
ment bequeathed  to  it  by  Mrs.  Fiske.  Happily  Mr. 
Sage's  generosity  had  provided  for  this  contingency, 
and  the  library  was  henceforth  indebted  to  him  for  its 
new  building  and  the  endowment  for  the  purchase  of 
books. 

The  general  outlines  of  the  library  building  are  some- 
what in  the  form  of  a  cross,  the  bookstacks  occupying 
the  south  and  west  arms,  the  reading  rooms  the  central 
space  and  the  eastern  arm,  while  the  northern  pro- 
vides quarters  for  the  offices  of  administration,  the 
President  White  Historical  Library,  and  seven  semi- 
nary rooms.  In  August,  1891,  the  removal  of  the 
books  from  McGraw  Hall  to  the  new  building  was 
safely  accomplished.  In  September  the  books  of  the 
President  White  Library  were  transferred  to  the  cus- 
tody of  the  university  and  arranged  in  the  handsome 
room  provided  for  them.  On  October  7  the  for- 
mal gift  of  the  library  building  and  the  endowment 
fund  of  $300,000  was  publicly  made  by  the  Hon.  Henry 
W.  Sage  and  accepted  on  behalf  of  the  university  by 
President  Adams.  At  the  same  time  President  White 
made  the  formal  presentation  of  his  library  with  its 
rich  special  collection  of  the  primary  sources  of  history, 
notably  those  on  the  Reformation,  the  Revival  of 
Learning,  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, the  American  Civil  War,  Slavery,  Superstition, 
Torture,  and  Witchcraft,  numbering  in  all  over  20,000 
volumes.  The  publication  of  a  catalogue  of  this  great 
historical  library  was  entrusted  to  Professor  George 
L.  Burr,  who  for  ten  years  had  had  the  care  of  the  col- 
lections, and  was  now  appointed  librarian  of  the 
President  White  Historical  Library.  The  catalogue  of 
the  collection  on  the  Protestant  Reformation  was  is- 
sued in  1889,  and  that  of  the  French  Revolution  in  1897. 
The  catalogue  of  the  collections  on  Superstition,  Tor- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     369 


ture,  and  Witchcraft  is  now  in  an  advanced  state  of 
preparation. 

By  the  gift  of  the  Sage  Endowment  Fund  an  assured 
and  liberal  income  was  provided  for  the  increase  of  the 
general  library,  which,  at  the  time  of  its  removal  to 
the  new  building,  numbered  96,000  volumes,  exclusive 
of  the  law  library,  which  then  numbered  about  9000 
volumes.  Since  1891,  the  annual  accessions  have  aver- 
aged about  12,000  volumes.  With  the  greater  facili- 
ties for  study  afforded  by  the  new  reading  room  and  its 
well  equipped  reference  library,  and  the  inducements 
offered  by  the  seminary  rooms  for  the  prosecution  of 
advanced  study  and  research,  came  a  corresponding  in- 
crease in  the  use  of  the  library,  the  recorded  use  dur- 
ing the  first  year  in  the  new  building  being  nearly  four 
times  as  great  as  in  the  preceding  year.  In  December, 
1891,  the  library  received  from  Willard  Fiske  the  gift 
of  a  remarkably  complete  collection  of  Rhaeto-Romanic 
literature  numbering  about  1,000  volumes.  In  the 
spring  of  1892  President  White  presented  to  the  li- 
brary an  interesting  collection  of  Mormon  literature. 

The  twenty-fifth  year  of  the  library's  existence,  1893, 
was  signalized  by  three  noteworthy  gifts.  First  came, 
in  February  of  that  year,  the  generous  gift  of  the  com- 
prehensive and  carefully  selected  law  library  of  some 
12,000  volumes  collected  by  the  late  N.  C.  Moak  of 
Albany.  This  collection  which  had  long  been  known 
to  lawyers  as  the  finest  private  law  library  in  America, 
was  purchased  and  presented  to  the  Law  School  of  Cor- 
nell University  as  a  memorial  of  the  first  dean  of  the 
school,  Douglass  Boardman,  by  his  widow  and  daughter. 
By  this  gift  the  law  library  was  more  than  doubled  in 
numbers,  and  at  once  took  rank  among  the  leading  law 
libraries  of  the  country. 

Next  came,  in  June,  the  noble  gift  of  the  extensive 
library  of  the  late  Friedrich  Zarncke,  which  was  pur- 


370     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY :  A  HISTORY 


chased  and  presented  to  the  university  by  William  H. 
Sage.  This  library,  which  numbers  about  13,000  vol- 
umes, is  especially  rich  in  German  literature  before  the 
time  of  Luther.  The  section  devoted  to  the  literature 
of  the  Nibelungenlied  alone  contains  over  300  titles, 
and  the  literature  relating  to  the  Minnesingers  is  well- 
nigh  as  fully  represented.  But  even  these  collections 
are  surpassed  in  extent  and  completeness  by  the  three 
special  collections  on  Groethe,  Lessing,  and  Christian 
Renter. 

The  third  great  gift  of  this  year  was  a  remarkable 
collection  of  Dante  literature,  numbering  then  about 
3,000  volumes,  presented  by  Willard  Fiske,  so  long  the 
librarian  of  the  university.  To  this  collection  the 
donor  has  continued  to  make  constant  and  great  ad- 
ditions until  it  now  contains  over  7,000  volumes,  and 
is  undoubtedly  the  largest  collection  of  Dante  litera- 
ture to  be  found.  The  catalogue  of  the  collection,  pre- 
pared by  T.  A.  Koch,  and  published  in  1900,  in  two 
volumes,  is  acknowledged  by  Dante  scholars  to  be  the 
most  comprehensive,  exact,  and  valuable  Dante  bibliog- 
raphy ever  published.  Following  close  upon  these, 
came,  in  1894,  the  gift  of  an  interesting  collection  of 
Spinoza  literature,  containing  about  450  volumes,  pre- 
sented to  the  library  by  President  White.  In  this  col- 
lection all  the  editions  of  Spinoza 's  works  are  said  to  be 
present,  with  numerous  commentaries  and  discussions 
of  Spinoza's  philosophy.  In  October,  1893,  the  library 
received  a  gift,  known  as  the  Lucy  Harris  Fund  of 
$1,000,  the  income  of  which  is  applied  to  the  formation 
of  a  collection  of  the  Victorian  poets.  Starting  with 
the  small  nucleus  of  the  works  of  the  chief  poets  of 
the  period,  then  in  the  library,  the  collection  now  num- 
bers about  1,300  volumes. 

In  1896  Professor  T.  F.  Crane  presented  to  the  li- 
brary several  hundred  volumes  of  rare  and  valuable 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     371 

works  on  French  and  Italian  Society  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  In  1897,  by  the  gift  of 
$5,000  from  Governor  Flower,  there  was  established  the 
Flower  Veterinary  Library  for  the  nse  of  the  veteri- 
nary college,  and  in  1901  Mrs.  Roswell  P.  Flower  gave 
to  the  university  an  endowment  fund  of  $10,000  for  this 
special  library,  thus  making  permanent  provision  for 
its  continued  growth  and  usefulness.  In  1897  Presi- 
dent White  generously  turned  over  the  entire  income 
from  the  sales  of  his  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science 
to  the  librarian  of  the  President  White  Library  to  be 
used  for  the  purchase  of  books  in  those  fields  of  the 
history  of  civilization  which  fall  less  directly  within 
the  scope  of  university  instruction,  and  from  this 
source  a  considerable  addition  is  made  to  the  funds 
available  for  the  growth  of  the  collection. 

In  the  year  1898  the  chief  gifts  were  a  collection  of 
Byroniana  from  Professor  J.  M.  Hart,  a  collection  of 
pedagogical  works  from  Professor  S.  G.  Williams,  and 
a  collection  of  Dreyfus  literature  from  Theodore  Stan- 
ton, of  the  class  of  1876,  who,  in  the  next  year,  pre- 
sented to  the  library  over  1,500  volumes  of  the  Tauch- 
nitz  collection  of  British  and  American  authors.  In 
1901  the  library  received  as  a  bequest  from  the  la- 
mented Moses  Coit  Tyler  a  complete  set  of  annotated 
copies  of  his  published  works,  and  a  carefully  arranged 
collection  of  his  correspondence  from  1854  to  1900, 
with  other  volumes  of  manuscripts  gathered  by  him, 
forming  a  unique  collection  of  great  interest. 

The  year  1902  was  marked  by  the  gift  of  the  Egypt- 
ological library  of  the  late  August  Eisenlohr,  pur- 
chased and  presented  to  the  university  by  A.  Abraham 
of  Brooklyn.  This  collection  of  nearly  1,000  volumes, 
comprising  complete  sets  of  all  the  leading  Egypto- 
logical periodicals,  and  many  costly  facsimiles  of 
Egyptian  papyri,  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  val- 


372      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

uable  additions  recently  made  to  the  library.  In  1903 
President  White  presented  to  the  library  an  exceed- 
ingly interesting  collection  devoted  to  Era  Paolo  Sarpi, 
which  he  had  formed  during  a  recent  visit  to  Italy. 

Such  are  some  of  the  chief  gifts  made  to  the  library 
in  the  twelve  years  that  have  passed  since  it  took  pos- 
session of  the  new  building  and  began  to  receive  the 
income  from  the  Sage  Endowment  Fund,  upon  which 
it  now  mainly  depends  for  its  regular  and  systematic 
growth.  During  this  period  the  university  library  has 
grown  from  105,000  volumes  to  285,000  volumes,  and 
the  recorded  use  of  the  books  in  the  library  has  in- 
creased, in  round  numbers,  from  35,000  volumes  in 
1891,  to  120,000  volumes  in  1903.  The  facilities  offered 
for  advanced  study  and  investigation  by  the  seminary 
rooms  with  their  special  collections  and  their  policy, 
consistently  pursued,  of  building  up  here  a  great  ref- 
erence library  for  the  aid  of  research,  have  combined 
to  give  the  library  an  enviable  reputation  for  efficiency 
in  university  work  and  have  given  it  high  rank  among 
the  libraries  of  the  country. 

In  May,  1903,  after  considerable  discussion  of  the 
proposition,  advocated  by  some,  to  change  the  library 
from  a  reference  library  into  a  general  circulating  li- 
brary, the  library  council  unanimously  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing principles  of  policy:  First,  that  the  general 
university  library  be  maintained  as  primarily  a  li- 
brary of  reference;  second,  that  in  order  to  afford  to 
students  greater  facilities  for  home  reading  there  be 
established  a  circulating  library.  In  pursuance  of  this 
policy  the  formation  of  a  separate  circulating  library 
has  been  begun,  for  which  it  is  planned  to  provide  quar- 
ters in  a  portion  of  the  large  lecture  room  below  the 
main  reading  room.  Here  the  books  designated  for 
circulation  will  be  kept  on  open  shelves,  to  which  all 
readers  may  have  free  access  and  make  their  selections 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     373 

from  the  books  themselves,  rather  than  from  the  cata- 
logue. In  this  way  it  is  hoped  that  much  may  be  done 
to  develop  and  foster  the  reading  habit  among  our  stu- 
dents. 

THE  LIBEARY  STAFF 

LIBRARIANS 

Willard  Fiske 1868-1883 

George  Wm.  Harris  (Acting  Librarian,  1883-1890)    .        .     1883- 

ASSISTANT    LIBRARIANS 

George  Wm.  Harris 1873-1883 

Andrew  C.  White 1889- 

Charles  H.  Hull 1889-1889 

William  H.  Hudson 1890-1892 

Willard  H.  Austen 1892- 

Mary  Fowler 1899-1903 

Katharine  Dame 1903- 


A8SISTANTS  AND    CATALOGUERS 

{Not  including  Undergraduate  Assistants.) 


William  Harkins 
Charles  P.  Woodruff 
Annie  E.  Hutchins 
Horace  S.  Kephart     . 
Harry  L.  Koopman    . 
Andrew  C  White 
Edwin  H.  Woodruff  , 
Lewis  H.  Tuthill 
Ellen  C.  Brown 
Gertrude  F.  Van  Dusen 
Philip  P.  Barton 
Charles  H.  Hull 
Julia  W.  Brown 
Emma  L.  Clarke 
Ellsworth  D.  Wright 
Charles  H.  Parshall    . 
Mary  Fowler 
Gertrude  F.  Van  Dusen 
Willard  H.  Austen     . 
AJexey  V.  Babine 
William  W.  Root 


Assistant     ....  1872-1873 

Assistant     ....  1876-1879 

Cataloguer ....  1881-1883 

Cataloguer  ....  1881-1885 

Cataloguer ....  1882-1884 

Assistant     ....  1883-1884 

Cataloguer.         .         .         .  1884-1887 

Assistant     ....  1884-1885 

Cataloguer  ....  1885-1886 

Cataloguer ....  1885-1887 

Assistant     ....  1886-1888 

Assistant  and  Cataloguer  .  1886-1889 

Cataloguer ....  1887-1891 

Cataloguer ....  1887-1888 

Cataloguer ....  1887-1891 

Assistant     ....  1889-1891 

Cataloguer ....  1890-1899 

Cataloguer  ....  1890-1895 

Assistant     ....  1889-1892 

Cataloguer ....  1891-1896 

Assistant     ....  1892-1895 


374      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 

.  A  HISTORY 

Mary  I.  Crandall 

.     Cataloguer . 

.     1893-1895 

Edgar  L.  Hinman 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1893-1894 

Mary  E.  Griswold 

.     Cataloguer . 

.     1894-1900 

Edward  Maguire 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1894-1895 

Emma  A.  Runner 

.     Cataloguer  , 

.     1895-1900 

Jennie  Thornberg 

.     Assistant  and 

Cataloguer  .     1895- 

Theodore  W.  Koch 

.     Cataloguer  . 

.     1895-1900 

George  F.  Danforth 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1896-1898 

Edith  A.  Ellis     . 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1898- 

Henry  J.  Gerling 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1898-1899 

Daniel  C.  Knowlton 

.     Assistant     , 

.     1899-1900 

Elizabeth  S.  Ingersoll 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1900- 

Katharine  Dame 

.     Cataloguer . 

.     1900-1903 

Emma  Knott 

.     Cataloguer . 

.     1900-1902 

Willard  W.  Ellis 

.     Assistant     . 

.     1902- 

Philena  R  Sheldon 

.     Assistant 

.     1902- 

Mary  Fowler 

.     Cataloguer . 

.     1903- 

DEPARTMENT   AND    SPECIAL    LIBRARIES 

Librarian  of  the  White  Historical  Library 
George  L.  Burr 1890- 

Librarian  of  the  Law  Library 
Alexander  H.  R.  Eraser 1893- 

Librarian  of  the  Architectural  Library 
Julia  W.  Mack 1901- 

Librarians  of  the  Flower  Library 

Ralph  M.  Brown 1901-1903 

Philena  B.  Fletcher 1903- 

Of  the  former  assistants  and  cataloguers  who  con- 
tinued in  library  work,  mention  may  be  made  of  H.  S. 
Kephart,  afterwards  Librarian  of  the  Mercantile  Li- 
brary of  St.  Louis ;  H.  L.  Koopman,  afterwards  Libra- 
rian of  Brown  University;  E.  H,  Woodruff,  Librarian 
of  Stanford  University;  A.  V.  Babine,  afterwards  Li- 
brarian of  Indiana  University,  and  later  Associate 
Librarian  of  Stanford  University,  and  now  on  the 
staff  of  the  Library  of  Congress ;  L.  N.  Nichols,  after- 
wards  assistant   in  the   New  Bedford  and  Brooklyn 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      375 

Public  Libraries ;  Mary  E.  Griswold,  Emma  A.  Runner, 
and  Emma  A.  Knott,  who  received  appointments  on 
the  staff  of  the  Library  of  Congress;  Theodore  W. 
Koch,  afterwards  on  the  staff  of  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress, and  now  Associate  Librarian  of  Michigan  Uni- 
versity; G.  F.  Danforth,  afterwards  Librarian  of 
Indiana  University ;  H.  R.  Mead,  now  in  charge  of  the 
Reference  Department  in  California  University  Li- 
brary. 

The  death  of  Willard  Fiske,  the  first  librarian  of  the 
university,  occurred  on  September  17,  1904.  By  his 
will  he  bequeathed  to  the  University  Library  not  only 
his  famous  Icelandic  and  Petrarch  collections,  with 
ample  provision  for  their  care  and  increase,  but  also 
practically  all  the  remainder  of  his  estate,  for  the  uses 
and  purposes  of  the  library,  which  will  probably  add 
eventually  about  half  a  million  dollars  to  the  endow- 
ment of  the  Library.  The  Icelandic  and  Petrarch  col- 
lections thus  united  with  the  Dante  and  Rhaeto-Romanic 
collections,  previously  given  by  him  to  the  library,  will 
form  an  enduring  monument  of  his  bibliographical  at- 
tainments, and  his  ability  and  skill  as  a  book  collector. 

The  Icelandic  collection  comprises  probably  about 
7,500  volumes,  and  includes  not  only  nearly  every  work 
published  in  Iceland,  but  all  works  which  can  in  any 
way  throw  light  on  the  history,  topography,  language, 
and  literature  of  Iceland.  With  two  exceptions,  it  has 
all  the  impressions  of  the  Icelandic  Bible  and  its  parts ; 
its  series  of  Icelandic  periodicals,  whether  printed  in 
the  island  itself,  in  Denmark,  or  in  Canada,  is  abso- 
lutely complete;  and  all  but  complete  is  its  series  of 
laws  and  ordinances  promulgated  either  by  the  Danish 
or  the  Icelandic  authorities.  Every  published  voyage 
to  Iceland  is  present,  not  only  in  its  various  original 
editions,  but  in  all  its  translations,  and  the  cartog- 
raphy of  the  island  is  especially  well  represented.    In 


376      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

addition  to  the  books  and  pamphlets,  the  collection  in- 
cludes a  great  number  of  broadsides,  placards,  engrav- 
ings, and  photographs. 

The  Petrarch  collection,  comprising  nearly  every 
edition  or  translation  of  Petrarch's  works,  and  rivaling 
the  Dante  collection  in  the  fullness  and  completeness 
of  the  literature  concerning  Petrarch  and  the  part  he 
played  in  the  revival  of  learning,  contains  probably 
about  5,000  volumes,  all  handsomely  bound,  and  many 
of  them  examples  of  the  best  work  of  famous  Euro- 
pean bookbinders. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


THE   GREAT   SUIT 


MR.  JOHN  McGRAW  had  been  closely  iden- 
tified with  the  history  of  the  university 
from  the  beginning,  having  been  one  of  the 
trustees  mentioned  in  the  act  of  incorpo- 
ration. His  active  interest  continued  until  his  death. 
In  the  early  history  of  the  university  he  had  presented 
the  McGraw  Hall,  a  building  designed  primarily  to  con- 
tain the  library  and  the  collections  of  natural  history, 
and  to  furnish  lecture  rooms  and  laboratories  for  these 
departments.  He  did  not  regard  his  beneficence  to  the 
university  as  at  an  end  with  this  gift ;  he  had  considered 
other  plans,  but  had  left  them  to  be  executed  by  his 
only  daughter  in  accordance  with  her  own  judgment 
and  tastes. 

Miss  Jennie  McGraw  was  born  in  Dryden,  N.  Y.,  Sep- 
tember 14, 1840.  She  was  educated  in  Canandaigua  and 
at  Pelham  Priory,  an  Episcopal  school  in  New  Rochelle. 
Miss  McGraw  had  a  native  enthusiasm  for  foreign 
travel,  and  a  genuine  unaffected  literary  taste.  She 
spent  the  year  1859-60  in  travel  in  Europe,  and  resided 
for  a  considerable  time  in  Berlin  for  the  purpose  of 
study.  In  1875  and  1876,  she  again  visited  Europe, 
and  made  an  extended  trip  through  England  and  Scot- 
land, visiting  also  France,  Italy,  and  Spain.  After  the 
death  of  her  father,  she  sailed  for  Europe,  and  extended 
her  travels  to  Sweden  and  Norway,  going  as  far  as  the 
North  Cape,  and  enjoying  keenly  the  grand  scenery  of 
the  mountains  and  fiords.  She  also  visited  Russia  and 
Italy.     She  loved  to  spend  days  among  the  famous 

377 


378      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

paintings  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Vatican.  All  foreign 
life  possessed  a  charm  for  her.  She  visited  Normandy 
and  Brittany,  where  she  found  delight  in  the  pictur- 
esque architecture,  and  in  the  life  of  the  peasantry. 
She  shared  fully  her  father's  interest  in  the  university. 
The  large  wealth  which  she  had  inherited  was  spent  in 
the  purchase  of  paintings  and  statuary,  with  which  she 
intended  to  fill  the  beautiful  mansion  which  she  was 
erecting  on  a  site  where,  for  many  years,  she  had 
dreamed  of  having  a  home.  It  was  her  wish  that  the 
numerous  art  treasures  which  she  acquired  should  be- 
come the  foundation  of  a  gallery  which  was  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  university.  At  the  opening  of  the  uni- 
versity her  fine  taste  was  manifested  in  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  chimes,  which  were  her  personal  gift,  and 
called  forth  that  exquisite  poem  from  Judge  Finch, 
which  will  be  sung  by  so  many  generations  of  students. 
Shrinking  as  regards  the  public-  she  revealed  to  those 
who  knew  her  intimately  a  loyal  and  beautiful  spirit, 
which  won  the  deepest  regard  of  those  who  shared  her 
friendship;  generous,  it  was  her  wish  that  her  noble 
fortune  should  be  a  source  of  joy  and  blessing  to  others. 
She  was  married  to  Professor  Willard  Fiske,  at  the 
American  Legation  in  Berlin,  on  July  14,  1880.  Her 
strength  had  not  been  equal  to  the  fatigue  and  excite- 
ment of  previous  travel.  Her  health  failed.  She  vis- 
ited Egypt  in  the  hope  of  being  benefited,  but  the  trip 
failed  to  restore  her,  and  she  desired  to  return  to  her 
native  land.  She  died  on  September  30,  1881,  a  few 
days  after  her  arrival.  Her  generous  spirit  was  shown 
by  her  will.  After  giving  to  her  husband  and  friends, 
and  to  objects  of  benevolence,  more  than  a  million  dol- 
lars, the  residue  of  her  large  fortune  was  left  to  the  uni- 
versity to  found  a  library  which  should  equal  her  hopes 
for  its  future. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  her  father  she  made  a  will, 


JENNIE  McGKAW  FISKE 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      379 

in  which,  after  certain  specific  bequests,  she  be- 
queathed to  the  university  the  sum  of  $15,000  for  a 
Students'  Hospital,  and  $25,000  to  maintain  it;  $50,- 
000  for  the  completion  of  the  McGraw  Hall,  and  for  a 
fund  to  sustain  it;  $200,000  to  constitute  the  McGraw 
Library  Fund,  the  income  of  which  was  to  be  spent  in 
the  support  of  the  library.  She  also  made  the  univer- 
sity the  legatee  of  her  residuary  estate. 

She  had  purchased  a  beautiful  site  adjacent  to  the 
university  grounds  overlooking  lake  and  valley,  upon 
which,  at  the  time  of  her  death,  she  was  erecting  a  fine 
residence  of  stone.  The  numerous  paintings,  statues, 
and  other  works  of  art,  and  books  which  she  had  pur- 
chased abroad,  became  by  the  terms  of  her  will  the 
property  of  Cornell  University. 

On  January  8,  1883,  after  due  citation  of  the  parties 
interested,  there  was  a  judicial  settlement  of  her  estate. 
On  the  6th  of  September,  1883,  a  petition  was  presented 
by  her  husband,  Willard  Fiske,  to  open  the  decree  of 
settlement,  to  which,  on  the  24th  day  of  October  follow- 
ing, her  kinsmen,  being  heirs-at-law  or  legatees  under 
her  father's  or  her  own  will,  were  admitted  as  partici- 
pants in  the  contest  which  now  arose.  The  value  of 
the  estate  which  she  had  received  from  her  father  was 
estimated  at  $1,600,000.  Her  fortune  at  her  death 
amounted  to  about  $2,025,000,  the  property  which  she 
had  inherited  having  increased  rapidly  in  value  during 
the  prosperous  years  from  1877  to  1881,  in  addition  to 
which  there  was  a  trust  fund  of  $250,000  in  her  favor, 
from  her  father's  estate,  which  she  was  to  receive  ten 
years  later.  This  will  was  now  contested  on  various 
grounds,  the  principal  being,  first,  the  provision  in  the 
charter  of  Cornell  University  which  limited  the  prop- 
erty which  it  might  hold  to  $3,000,000;  secondly,  the 
provision  of  the  statute  which  forbade  a  wife  having  a 
husband  living  to  bequeath  more  than  one-half  of  her 


380      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

property  to  religious  or  benevolent  purposes.  Able 
counsel  were  engaged  to  discuss  the  difficult  and  intri- 
cate questions  of  law  which  were  involved.  Great 
interest  was  manifested  in  the  result  of  this  suit,  not 
only  in  the  university  but  abroad,  especially  among 
educational  institutions.  It  was  felt  that  the  creation 
of  a  great  university  library,  which  would  become  pos- 
sible by  the  realization  of  this  gift,  was  a  state  and 
national  blessing,  and  would  enable  the  university 
within  a  short  time  to  gather  about  it  facilities  for 
study,  as  regards  its  literary  collections,  not  surpassed 
by  any  university  in  the  country.  The  question  of 
main  importance  connected  with  this  case,  and  upon 
which  the  other  conclusions  depended,  was  the  actual 
value  of  the  estate  devised,  and  the  amount  of  property 
which  the  university  previously  possessed. 

The  National  Land  Grant  had  been  bestowed  upon 
the  state  of  New  York  in  trust  for  a  specific  purpose. 
It  had  received  land  scrip  or  title  to  government  land, 
which  might  be  subsequently  selected,  not  land  itself. 
The  value  of  this  land  scrip  when  the  university  was 
chartered  was  sixty  cents  per  acre.  The  entire  amount 
which  the  state  had  received  would  have  yielded  at  the 
market  price  about  half  a  million  dollars.  In  this 
emergency  Mr.  Cornell  had  offered  to  purchase  the  re- 
maining scrip,  about  eight  hundred  thousand  acres,  to 
locate  the  same  on  selected  lands,  and  pay  all  costs  of 
surveys,  taxes,  etc.,  and,  when  the  market  was  favor- 
able, to  sell  the  land  and  pay  all  the  proceeds  into  the 
state  treasury,  less  the  actual  expenses  which  he  had 
incurred,  the  same  to  constitute  the  "  Cornell  Endow- 
ment Fund,"  the  income  of  which  should  be  devoted 
forever  to  the  support  of  the  university.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  sale  or  conveyance  of  the  land  to  him  was 
that  he  should  bind  himself  to  pay  all  the  profits  into 
the  state  treasury  for  the  university.     He  was  to  do 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     381 

for  the  state  what  it  could  not  do  for  itself,  for  one 
state  could  not  locate  land  in  another  state  without 
producing  a  confusion  of  jurisdiction,  and  was,  more- 
over, distinctly  prohibited  by  the  Land  Grand  Act. 
Such  possession  would  also  have  enabled  one  state  to 
affect  the  market  value  of  property  in  another  state  by 
its  action.  The  question  was :  Do  the  additional  profits 
from  the  increased  value  of  the  land  constitute  a  sepa- 
rate fund,  subject  to  the  special  provisions  of  the  act  of 
Congress,  or  form  a  personal  gift  of  Mr.  Cornell  to  the 
university,  a  gift  made  possible  only  through  years  of 
labor,  and  through  the  risk  of  his  personal  fortune? 
Was  the  state  a  trustee  for  the  entire  sum  realized  from 
the  sale  of  the  national  land,  or  only  for  the  amount  of 
the  original  value  of  the  land  scrip,  or  was  the  univer- 
sity the  owner"?  If  all  the  sums  arising  from  the  sale 
of  the  land  constituted  a  part  of  the  original  national 
gift,  then  the  university  was  limited  in  its  employment 
of  the  fund  to  the  terms  of  that  gift.  The  proceeds 
were  not  in  that  case  available  for  buildings,  or  for 
other  departments  of  instruction,  save  those  specified 
by  the  Land  Grant  Act. 

Had  the  state  of  New  York  limited  or  modified  the 
act  of  Congress  by  its  transfer  of  the  land  to  Mr.  Cor- 
nell, and  if  so,  would  such  action  be  sustained  by  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  f  These  were  some  of 
the  questions  which  were  required  to  be  passed  upon 
by  the  highest  state  and  national  judiciaries.  The 
trustees  of  the  university  regarded  the  execution  of 
the  trust  which  they  had  received  as  of  so  binding  a 
character  that  it  was  incumbent  upon  them  to  maintain 
the  obligation  imposed  by  Mrs.  Fiske's  legacy.  A  de- 
cision in  the  Probate  Court  was  not  reached  until  May 
25,  1886.  From  this  decision  an  appeal  was  taken  to 
the  General  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  of 
New  York,  which  rendered  a  decision  on  the  20th  of 


382      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

August,  1887,  reversing  the  judgment  pronounced  by 
the  surrogate,  and  deciding  that  Cornell  University  had 
already  reached  the  limit  of  property  prescribed  by  its 
charter,  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Mrs,  Jennie 
McGraw-Fiske,  and  was  not  entitled  to  and  could 
not  take  or  hold  any  of  the  property  or  funds  de- 
vised or  bequeathed  to  it  by  her  last  will  and  testa- 
ment. 

From  this  judgment  of  the  court  an  appeal  was  then 
taken  by  the  counsel  of  the  university  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals,  by  which  a  decision  was  rendered  on  Novem- 
ber 27,  1888.  This  decision  sustained  the  position  as- 
sumed by  the  contestants  of  the  will.  In  an  elaborate 
opinion  pronounced  by  Judge  Peckham,  in  which  the 
remaining  justices,  with  the  exception  of  Justice  Finch, 
who  took  no  part,  concurred,  it  was  held  that  a  corpo- 
ration has  the  right  to  hold,  purchase,  and  convey  such 
real  and  personal  estate  as  the  purposes  of  the  corpo- 
ration shall  require,  not  exceeding  the  amount  speci- 
fied in  the  charter ;  that  no  corporation  possesses  or  can 
exercise  any  corporate  powers,  except  such  as  shall  be 
necessary  for  the  exercise  of  the  powers  enumerated 
and  given  in  its  charter,  or  in  the  act  under  which  it  is 
incorporated ;  that  no  devise  to  the  corporation  shall  be 
valid  unless  such  corporation  be  expressly  authorized 
by  its  charter,  or  by  statute,  to  receive  it  by  devise; 
that  the  college,  being  a  corporation,  has  power  to  take 
and  hold  by  gift,  grant,  or  devise,  any  real  or  personal 
property,  the  yearly  income  or  revenue  of  which  shall 
not  exceed  the  value  of  $25,000. 

The  state  was  required  to  give  its  assent  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Act  of  Congress  by  legislative  act,  and 
the  grant  was  only  authorized  upon  the  acceptance  by 
the  state  of  those  conditions.  This  gift  was  bestowed 
upon  Cornell  University  upon  condition  that  the  Hon. 
Ezra  Cornell  should  give  $500,000  in  money  to  the  uni- 


A^ 


C^U^-^ 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      383 

versity,  and  $25,000  to  the  trustees  of  the  Genesee  Col- 
lege at  Lima,  in  this  state. 

The  university  having  received  this  sum  the  question 
arose :  How  can  it  dispose  of  the  scrip  in  the  best  pos- 
sible manner  so  that  the  income  of  the  university  shall 
be  increased  to  the  greatest  possible  extent?  The  re- 
sult of  throwing  upon  the  market  such  enormous 
amounts  of  the  public  land  as  had  been  donated  by 
Congress  to  the  several  states  was  a  fall  in  the  market 
value  of  the  land,  and,  of  course,  of  the  scrip  which  it 
represented,  to  a  sum  far  less  than  the  established  price 
for  government  lands.  In  the  fall  of  1865  Mr.  Cor- 
nell purchased  of  the  comptroller  100,000  acres  of  land 
scrip  for  $50,000,  and  gave  his  bond  for  that  sum,  under 
the  condition  that  all  the  profits  which  should  accrue 
from  the  sale  of  the  land  should  be  paid  to  Cornell  Uni- 
versity. 

On  April  10,  1866,  the  legislature  authorized  the 
comptroller  to  fix  the  price  at  which  he  would  sell  and 
dispose  of  any  or  of  all  the  lands  or  land  scrips  do- 
nated to  this  state,  such  price  not  to  be  less  than  30 
cents  per  acre  for  said  lands.  He  might  contract  for 
the  sale  thereof  to  the  trustees  of  Cornell  University. 
If  the  trustees  should  not  agree  to  purchase  the  same, 
then  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office  might  re- 
ceive from  any  persons  an  application  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  whole  or  any  part  thereof  at  the  price  so 
fixed  by  the  comptroller.  The  trustees  or  such  per- 
sons as  should  purchase  the  land  scrip  were  required 
to  make  an  agreement,  and  give  security,  for  the  per- 
formance thereof,  to  the  effect  that  the  whole  net  avails 
and  profits  from  the  sale  of  the  scrip  should  be  paid 
over  and  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  such  institution  or 
institutions  as  had  been  or  should  be  created  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress. 

On  June  9,  1866,  Mr.  Cornell  in  behalf  of  the  trus- 


384     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

tees  informed  the  comptroller  that  they  would  be  un- 
able to  purchase  and  locate  the  land  scrip,  as  they  had 
no  funds  belonging  to  the  institution  that  could  be  ap- 
propriated for  that  purpose.  On  the  same  day  Mr. 
Cornell  made  to  the  comptroller  the  proposition,  by 
the  acceptance  of  which  a  contract  was  made  with  him, 
by  which  he  agreed  to  place  the  entire  profits  to  be  de- 
rived from  the  sale  of  all  the  lands  in  the  treasury  of 
the  state,  if  the  state  would  receive  the  same  as  a  fund 
separate  from  that  derived  from  the  sale  of  scrip,  and 
keep  it  permanently  invested,  and  appropriate  the  pro- 
ceeds from  the  income  thereof  annually  to  the  Cornell 
University  for  the  general  purposes  of  said  institution, 
and  not  hold  it  subject  to  the  restrictions  which  the  act 
of  Congress  placed  upon  the  fund  derivable  from  the 
sale  of  the  college  land-scrip,  or  as  a  donation  from  the 
government  of  the  United  States;  but  as  a  donation 
from  Ezra  Cornell  to  Cornell  University. 

The  comptroller  had  fixed  the  price  of  the  scrip  at 
fifty  cents  per  acre,  which  was  somewhat  less  than  the 
market  price  for  small  parcels,  but  which,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  large  quantity  which  was  to  be  disj)osed  of, 
and  the  fact  that  the  prospective  profits  to  be  derived 
from  the  sale  and  location  of  the  lands  were  to  go  into 
the  state  treasury,  he  considered  fair  as  well  for  the 
purchaser  as  for  the  state.  '^  Acting  upon  the  above 
basis,  I  propose  to  purchase  said  land  scrip  as  fast  as 
I  can  advantageously  locate  the  same,  paying  therefor 
at  the  rate  of  thirty  cents  per  acre  in  good  seven  per 
cent,  bonds  and  securities,  and  obliging  myself  to  pay 
the  profits  into  the  treasury  of  the  state  as  follows: 
Thirty  cents  per  acre  of  said  profits  to  be  added  to  the 
college  land  scrip  fund,  and  the  balance  of  said  profits 
to  be  placed  in  a  separate  fund  to  be  known  as  the  Cor- 
nell University  fund,  and  to  be  preserved  and  invested 
for  the  benefit  of  said  institution,  and  the  income  to  be 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      385 

derived  therefrom  to  be  paid  over  annually  to  the  trus- 
tees of  said  university  for  the  general  purposes  of  said 
institution. ' ' 

The  question  upon  which  the  Court  of  Appeals  de- 
cided this  celebrated  suit  rested  upon  the  interpretation 
of  the  agreement  which  is  here  cited.  The  counsel  of 
the  university  urged  that  the  conditions  imposed  upon 
Mr.  Cornell  in  acquiring  the  land  scrip,  by  which  he 
was  obliged  to  return  to  the  treasury  of  the  state  all 
profits  from  the  same,  constituted  a  part  of  the  con- 
tract, and  that  it  was  a  distinctly  specified  condition, 
being  a  part  of  the  agreement  under  which  the  land 
was  sold  to  him,  and  under  which  condition  it  would 
have  had  to  have  been  sold  to  any  other  person;  in 
fact,  it  was  an  obligation  imposed  by  the  legislature 
upon  any  sale  of  the  land  by  the  comptroller  acting 
with  the  land  commissioners  of  the  state.  Mr.  Cornell 
was  in  that  case  fulfilling  a  contract  made  with  the  state. 

As  interpreted  by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  this  condi- 
tion did  not  constitute  a  contract,  but  the  title  to  the 
land  passed  to  Mr.  Cornell,  and  he  thus  became  the 
absolute  owner  of  the  land  scrip.  His  profits  were  to 
be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  state,  but  they  were  to 
be  paid  therein  as  profits  and  not  as  any  portion  of  the 
purchase  price  of  the  scrip;  and  they  were  to  be  paid 
as  profits  of  Mr.  Cornell  and  received  under  that  agree- 
ment as  the  property  of  Cornell  University,  the  income 
of  which  was  to  be  paid  to  it  for  its  general  purposes, 
and  the  principal  was  to  constitute  the  Cornell  Endow- 
ment Fund.  It  was,  in  the  view  of  the  court,  something 
else  than  an  agency  created  in  behalf  of  the  state ;  the 
profits  which  he  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  realize  in  the 
future  were  entirely  speculative  in  character  and 
amount,  and  were  dependent  largely  upon  the  judgment 
with  which  the  lands  were  located,  and  the  times  and 
manner  of  the  sale.     The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  these 


386      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

were,  therefore,  Mr.  Cornell's  own  gift  to  the  univer- 
sity. All  the  compensation  he  sought  for  his  services, 
his  trouble  and  his  responsibilities,  great  and  onerous 
as  they  were,  was  the  fact  that  all  this  should  go  to  the 
university. 

In  1874,  just  before  Mr.  Cornell's  death,  he  trans- 
ferred to  the  university  all  his  right,  title,  and  interest 
in  this  vast  property,  and  the  university  assumed  in 
his  place  the  execution  of  all  obligations  and  contracts 
which  Mr.  Cornell  had  undertaken  in  carrying  out  his 
noble  and  far-seeing  purpose. 

The  construction  placed  on  Mr.  Cornell's  agreement 
by  the  counsel  of  the  university  made  it  a  debtor  to  the 
state  for  the  entire  amount  realized  from  the  sale  of  the 
lands.  An  additional  point,  presented  with  great 
learning  by  the  counsel  of  the  university,  maintained  a 
distinction  in  law  between  the  right  to  ' '  take  ' '  and  to 
*'  hold  "  property  by  devise.  It  was  claimed  that  by 
the  law  of  mortmain,  corporations  without  special  li- 
cense might  ' '  take  ' '  the  title  to  real  property  aliened, 
subject  only  to  the  right  of  the  superior  lord,  in  this 
case  the  state,  to  enter  and  take  the  land  under  the 
power  of  forfeiture.  The  charter  of  the  university 
provided  "  that  it  might  hold  real  and  personal  prop- 
erty to  the  value  of  three  million  dollars."  This  po- 
sition received  apparent  support  from  the  decisions  of 
the  courts  of  other  states  and  from  certain  decisions 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  It  was  held,  how- 
ever, by  the  Court  of  Appeals,  that  the  early  mortmain 
acts  in  England  bear  no  resemblance  to  the  tenure  by 
which  a  citizen  of  this  state  holds  lands.  Here  there  is 
no  vassal  and  superior,  but  the  title  is  absolute  in  the 
owner  and  subject  only  to  the  liability  to  escheat.  Al- 
though some  portions  of  the  mortmain  laws  of  England 
may  have  been  enforced  in  other  states,  no  such  laws 
have  been  enforced  in  this  state.    As  a  large  portion  of 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      387 

the  real  estate  bequeathed  to  the  university  by  Mrs. 
Fiske  was  situated  in  other  states,  it  was  urged  that 
such  real  estate  could  not  in  its  descent  be  subject  to 
the  law  of  this  state,  but  that  the  title  to  real  estate  is 
governed  by  the  laws  of  the  state  where  the  real  prop- 
erty is  situated.  But  the  court  held  that  the  direction 
in  Mrs.  Fiske 's  will  to  convert  her  estate  into  money  or 
available  securities  operated  as  an  equitable  conversion 
of  the  estate,  and  hence  no  real  estate  in  other  states 
had  been  devised  by  her  to  the  university. 

As  the  interpretation  of  an  act  of  Congress  was  in- 
volved in  the  decision  of  this  question,  an  appeal  was 
taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  where 
Senator  George  F.  Edmunds,  one  of  the  ablest  consti- 
tutional lawyers  of  this  country,  presented  in  a  plea  of 
great  force  the  position  of  the  university.  He  claimed 
that  the  whole  of  the  moneys  derived  from  the  sale  of  the 
lands  were  trust  moneys,  and  belonging  to  a  trust  fund, 
and  had  no  connection  or  relation  to  the  limitation  of 
the  amount  of  property  that  the  university  might  hold 
as  provided  in  its  charter.  The  fact  that  the  state  pro- 
vided for  other  modes  of  investment  than  those  men- 
tioned in  the  law  of  Congress  had  no  bearing  upon  the 
intrinsic  nature  of  the  trust  itself.  To  hold  that  it 
could,  would  be  to  hold  that  a  trustee  may  change  the 
nature  and  responsibilitj^  of  his  duties  under  a  trust  by 
mis-investment.  The  opinion  of  the  court,  which  was 
pronounced  by  Mr,  Justice  Blatchford,  followed  that 
pronounced  by  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals.  A 
dissenting  opinion  was  presented  by  Mr.  Justice 
Brewer,  in  which  Mr.  Justice  Gray  concurred.  This 
opinion  held  that  the  act  of  the  legislature  of  New 
York,  under  which  the  land  scrip  was  bestowed  upon 
Cornell  University,  was  the  legislation  of  a  sovereign 
state  prescribing  the  duties  and  powers  of  one  of  its 
oflficials,  and  also  a  declaration  of  the  duties  cast  by  a 


388      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

trustee  upon  his  agent  in  respect  to  trust  property.  In 
either  aspect  its  voice  was  potential  in  respect  to  that 
which  was,  under  that  authority,  thereafter  done  by 
official  or  agent.  In  this  view,  the  land  commissioners 
had  no  authority  to  make  a  limitation  in  the  contract,  by 
which  thirty  cents  an  acre  and  the  net  proceeds  were 
to  pass  to  the  national  fund.  No  subsequent  legisla- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  state  of  New  York  and  "  no 
agreement  between  it  and  Cornell  University  as  to  the 
possession  of  these  funds  can  have  the  effect  to  relieve 
the  state  from  its  liability  as  trustee,  or  place  the  title 
to  those  funds  elsewhere  than  in  the  state."  The  uses 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  land  scrip  fund  are  stamped  with 
the  limitation  imposed  by  the  original  act  of  Congress. 
Under  the  decision  of  the  highest  court  of  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  of  the  United  States,  the  Cornell  En- 
dowment Fund  was  the  gift  of  Mr.  Cornell  to  the  uni- 
versity. It  was  not,  therefore,  subject  to  any  limitation 
which  might  apply  to  the  land  scrip  fund,  and  could  be 
used  for  any  of  the  purposes  of  the  university  which  the 
trustees  might  deem  proper. 

The  issues  of  this  great  suit  were  awaited  with  much 
interest  by  the  university  world,  and  by  the  friends  of 
education  throughout  the  country.  The  decision  de- 
prived the  university  of  the  largest  single  legacy  which 
it  had  ever  received.  The  manifest  purpose  of  Mrs. 
Fiske  was  defeated,  and  defeated  under  legal  forms. 
The  question  naturally  arose  whether  any  different 
presentation  of  the  case  on  behalf  of  the  university 
would  have  secured  a  different  decision.  The  eminent 
connsol  of  the  university  from  the  beginning,  who  had 
conducted  successfully  its  vast  legal  interests,  was  un- 
able at  this  time  to  act  in  its  behalf,  as  he  was  then  a 
member  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  Upon  the  issues 
raised,  the  conclusion  was  perhaps  inevitable,  but  later 
consideration  has  raised  a  doubt  whether  the  case  in 


COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      389 


behalf  of  the  university  was  adequately  presented,  and 
whether  the  arguments  upon  which  such  vast  issues 
were  staked  were  the  only  ones  which  might  have  been 
urged.  According  to  English  law  and  decisions  in  the 
case  of  an  institution  deriving  its  charter  from  the 
state,  and  incapacitated  from  accepting  a  bequest  by 
the  terms  of  that  charter,  it  is  the  state  alone  that  has 
the  right  to  intervene,  and  not  the  heirs-at-law.  Such 
were  the  decisions  in  cases  occurring  under  the  law  of 
mortmain.  The  state  received  that  which  a  corpora- 
tion could  not  take.  The  state  alone,  in  the  exercise  of 
its  sovereign  dignity,  can  determine  whether  a  fran- 
chise issuing  from  it  has  been  violated.  Since  the  de- 
cision of  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  the  Supreme 
Courts  of  the  states  of  Maine  and  of  Maryland  have 
passed  upon  a  similar  question,  both  reviewing  the 
decision  in  the  case  of  Cornell  University,  and  deciding 
that  the  state  alone  has  the  right  to  intervene  to  test 
the  question  whether  its  law  has  been  violated.  The 
Supreme  Court  of  Maine,  in  commenting  upon  this  de- 
cision of  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  states  that 
it  stands  alone,  and  that  it  is  the  sole  legal  authority 
for  the  position  assumed.  It  held  that  ''  the  limita- 
tion upon  this  class  of  corporations  is  a  matter  of  pub- 
lic policy.  As  such  it  is  for  the  state  alone  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  its  breach  if  it  chooses,  or  it  may  waive  it ; 
and  consequently  private  parties  cannot  be  permitted 
to  assert  against  the  corporation  a  violation  of  the  limi- 
tation." 

The  United  States  Courts  have  also  uniformly  held 
that  ''  restrictions  imposed  by  the  charter  of  the  cor- 
poration upon  the  amount  of  property  it  may  hold 
cannot  be  taken  advantage  of  collaterally  by  private 
persons,  but  only  by  the  state  which  created  it. "  "  The 
corporation  may  be  amenable  to  the  penalty  of  violating 
its  charter,  but  individuals  cannot  call  it  in  question. 


390      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

The  state  alone  has  the  right  to  proceed  against  it. 
The  state  may  see  fit  or  not  see  fit  to  do  so.  The  state 
may  condone  the  offense  and  the  legislature  may  re- 
lieve by  enlarging  its  powers." 

The  New  York  Court  of  Appeals  has  also  affirmed  in 
earlier  and  in  more  recent  decisions,  that  in  estimating 
the  value  of  the  property  of  a  corporation,  where  there 
is  a  limitation  in  the  charter  of  the  amount  which  the 
corporation  may  hold,  the  market  value  of  the  prop- 
erty at  the  time  when  it  was  received  must  be  taken 
into  account,  and  not  the  accidental  increment  of  in- 
creased value.  '^  If  the  income  exceed  the  prescribed 
limit  at  the  time  of  the  grant,  it  is  a  question  between 
the  corporation  and  the  sovereign  power  in  which  indi- 
viduals have  no  concern,  and  of  which  they  cannot  avail 
themselves  in  any  mode  against  the  corporation.  The 
accidental  increase  in  the  income  of  a  corporation  de- 
rived from  its  vested  estates  to  a  point  beyond  which 
its  charter  prescribes,  cannot  have  the  effect  to  divest 
its  title  in  such  estates,  or  in  any  portion  of  them. ' ' 

Under  this  view  of  the  law,  the  property  of  the  uni- 
versity must  be  estimated  at  its  market  value  when  the 
title  passed  from  Mr.  Cornell  to  the  university.  All 
subsequent  increase  in  value  has  been  accidental,  and 
must  be  disregarded.  The  legal  bearing  of  the  de- 
cisions upon  this  point  was  ignored  by  the  counsel  for 
the  university,  and  apparently  the  oversight  was  dis- 
astrous and  involved  the  loss  of  this  magnificent 
legacy.  Individual  opinions  of  judges  who  passed 
adversely  upon  the  questions  raised  by  the  counsel  for 
the  university  have  since  been  cited  as  stating  that 
their  decision  would  have  been  otherwise  had  this  ques- 
tion been  raised. 

One  of  the  results  of  the  decision  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  was  to  make  the  university  absolute 
owner  of  the  Cornell  Endowment  Fund.     The  court 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      391 

held  that  all  profits  arising  from  Mr.  Cornell's  admin- 
istration of  the  land  scrip  in  excess  of  the  market  value 
at  the  time  when  it  was  received  were  gifts  of  Mr.  Cor- 
nell to  the  university  and  consequently  were  free  from 
the  restrictions  in  use  imposed  by  the  Land  Grant  Act 
itself.  This  unexpected  result  makes  it  possible  for 
the  university  to  use  the  income  of  this  fund  in  any 
manner,  and  for  any  purpose,  which  the  needs  of  the 
university  require.  The  university  had  previously  re- 
garded the  entire  income  from  the  sales  of  the  land  as 
subject  to  the  original  act  of  Congress. 


CHAPTER   XXin 

THE    NEW    YORK    STATE    COLLEGE    OF    AGEICULTURB    AT 
CORNELL   UNIVERSITY 

CORNELL  UNIVERSITY  is  founded  on  the 
Land  Grant  Act  of  1862,  the  main  object  of 
which  is  "  to  promote  the  liberal  and  prac- 
tical education  of  the  industrial  classes  in 
the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life."  This 
object  was  to  be  attained  largely  by  teaching  such 
branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts.  That  is  to  say,  the  "  industrial 
classes  ' '  at  that  time  were  those  who  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural and  mechanic  work.  Prom  its  inception  Cor- 
nell University  has  endeavored  to  carry  out  the  objects 
of  the  Land  Grant  Act.  It  has  stood  for  true  demo- 
cratic effort  to  reach  the  people  in  terms  of  their  daily 
lives.  It  was  the  first  of  the  great  universities  that 
made  a  successful  effort  to  place  these  industrial  sub- 
jects on  an  equal  academic  plane  with  the  traditional 
parts  of  the  curriculum. 

In  order  to  understand  fully  the  significance  of  the 
Land  Grant  Act,  one  must  know  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  that  remarkable  instrument.  Education  was 
at  first  aristocratic  rather  than  democratic.  Gradually 
the  subjects  that  have  to  do  with  common-day  problems 
have  been  forced  into  the  curricula  of  the  universities. 
The  germ  of  the  revolution  in  this  country  was  planted 
when  Harvard,  in  1783,  after  a  long  struggle,  estab- 
lished a  chair  of  chemistry.  This  marked  a  distinct 
departure  in  the  popularizing  of  education.  Scientific 
or  technical  education  spread  slowly,  but  its  progress 

392 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      393 

was  sure.     Chemistry  led  in  the  revolution,  followed 
by  geology,  zoology,  and  botany.     Gradually  provision 
for  the  distinctly  industrial  phases  of  life  was  intro- 
duced into  colleges  and  universities.     As  early  as  in 
1823  manual-labor  schools  came  into  existence  in  this 
country.     These  came  at  the  demand  of  the  awakening 
mechanical  genius  of  the  time.     They  grew  slowly  at 
first,  undergoing  a  long  period  of  incubation,  from 
which  they  began  to  emerge  some  forty  or  fifty  years 
ago.     Of  late  their  growth  has  been  great,  and  their 
influence  has  been  extended  with  phenomenal  rapidity. 
They  have  now  passed  the  initial   stage  and  taken 
their  place  among  the  recognized  subjects  of  education. 
Along  with  the  demand  for  instruction  in  science  and 
the  mechanic  arts  a  similar  demand  arose  for  instruc- 
tion in  agriculture.     At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  there  was  a  distinct  movement  in  this  direction 
in  Pennsylvania,  which  went  so  far  as  to  complete  the 
preliminary  organization  of  a  college  of  agriculture. 
This  college  was  to  be  an  institution  of  the  county 
agricultural  societies.     At  that  time  the  policy  of  the 
maintenance   of  higher   industrial   education   by   the 
state  had  not  developed.     When  the  preliminary  ar- 
rangements seemed  complete  the  project,  for  some  un- 
fortunate reason,  was  abandoned  in  the  year  1799.    As 
early  as  in  1821  instruction  in  agriculture  was  given 
in  the  Lyceum  at  Gardiner,  Me.     There  was  some  inci- 
dental instruction  in  agriculture  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  at  Troy,  which 
was  established  in  1823.  In  1824  an  "Agricultural  Sem- 
inary "  was  opened  at  Derby,  Conn.     It  was  founded 
by  Josiah  Holbrook  and  Truman  Coe.     It  provided  a 
course  in  agriculture  and  was  also  co-educational.    The 
venture  was  ahead  of  its  time,  however,  and  the  college 
was   discontinued   after   one   or   two    years.    In   the 
winter  of   1846-47   a   "  Farmers'   College  "   was   or- 


394     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ganized  at  College  Hill,  near  Cincinnati.  This  was 
really  a  reorganization  of  an  academy  that  was  started 
in  1883.  The  institution  had  a  continuous  existence 
as  a  college  with  agricultural  features  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Civil  War.  It  was  reopened  after  that  time, 
but  could  not  compete  with  the  growing  Land  Grant 
colleges.  In  1854  the  ''  Ohio  Agricultural  College  " 
was  opened  at  Oberlin,  in  Northern  Ohio.  This  was 
conducted  for  one  year  at  Oberlin  and  two  years  at 
Cleveland,  and  finally  was  removed  to  Columbus,  be- 
coming eventually  a  part  of  the  State  University. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  past  century  the  subject 
of  agricultural  education  was  very  commonly  discussed 
by  the  agricultural  societies  of  the  United  States.  The 
Land  Grant  Act  of  1862  was  really  in  large  part  a  cul- 
mination of  these  discussions.  A  movement  was  early 
under  way  in  New  York  State.  As  early  as  in  1826 
Lieutenant-Governor  Talmadge  recommended  that 
greater  attention  be  given  to  the  general  teaching  of 
"  the  sciences  connected  with  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  ' '  in  New  York  State.  In  1836  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York  granted  a  charter  for  an  agricul- 
tural college.  It  was  proposed  to  buy  a  farm  and  to 
establish  a  school  on  it.  Even  in  the  states  which 
were  then  on  the  western  frontier  the  movement  early 
took  definite  form.  In  1850  the  legislature  of  Michi- 
gan asked  its  representatives  in  Congress  to  give  lands 
for  the  establishment  of  agricultural  schools.  The 
legislature  of  Illinois,  as  early  as  1854,  passed  resolu- 
tions calling  upon  Congress  to  establish  an  industrial 
university.  These  are  only  isolated  examples  of  the 
widespread  interest  that  was  taken  in  this  general 
movement  by  farmers  and  by  those  who  were  inter- 
ested in  the  public  welfare.  In  Michigan  an  agricul- 
tural college  was  established  in  1857,  and  this  institu- 
tion, the  oldest  of  the  existing  American  agricultural 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      395 


colleges,  is  still  one  of  the  leading  institutions  of  its 
kind  in  the  world. 

At  the  outset  Cornell  University  put  itself  directly 
in  line  with  these  growing  movements  for  instruction 
in  agriculture.  Conferences  were  held  with  the  lead- 
ing educators  of  the  state  and  with  the  officers  of  the 
State  Agricultural  Society.  One  of  the  two  professors 
first  chosen  was  a  professor  of  agricultural  chemistry, 
but  no  professor  of  scientific  and  practical  agriculture 
was  appointed.  There  was  a  farm  consisting  of  the 
land  presented  by  Mr.  Cornell,  not  reserved  for  a 
campus,  upon  which  stood  a  small  farmhouse,  situated 
near  the  eastern  extension  of  Sibley  College,  and  sev- 
eral blackened  barns.  At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees 
of  February  13,  1868,  Joseph  Harris,  a  gentleman 
widely  known  as  the  editor  of  a  popular  agricultural 
paper,  who  had  some  personal  acquaintance  with  for- 
eign agriculture,  was  appointed  to  the  professorship 
of  agriculture.  He  never  entered,  however,  upon  the 
duties  of  his  position.  Soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
second  term  on  February  18,  1869,  Lewis  Spaulding 
was  appointed  assistant-professor  of  agriculture  and 
farm  director.  It  was  evident  that  the  entire  organi- 
zation of  this  department  was  inchoate,  and  the  first 
specific  instruction  was  elementary  in  character,  and 
confined  to  the  observation  of  farm  work.  Two 
prominent  agriculturists  were  early  appointed  as  lec- 
turers in  the  university,  Mr.  John  Stanton  Gould,  on 
June  30,  1869,  who  had  been  president  of  the  State 
Agricultural  Society  and  was  actively  interested  in 
promoting  the  agricultural  welfare  of  the  state.  This 
noble  Friend  was  a  man  of  great  practical  wisdom  and 
of  large  influence  in  the  denomination  with  which  he 
was  connected,  whose  life  had  been  devoted  to  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  suffering  and 
criminal  classes  in  the  community.     He  delivered  for 


396      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

several  years  two  courses  of  lectures,  one  upon  general 
agriculture  and  another  upon  mechanics  as  applied  to 
agriculture.  All  who  knew  this  man,  so  grand  in  every 
quality  of  his  being,  will  rejoice  in  the  memory  of  his 
association  in  those  early  years.  Governor  Frederick 
Holbrook  of  Vermont  had  been  appointed  a  lecturer 
on  one  portion  of  the  field  covered  by  Mr.  Gould,  that 
of  mechanics  as  applied  to  agriculture,  but  had  never 
performed  any  duties.  The  trustees  at  this  time  in- 
terpreted the  law  of  Congress  as  requiring  all  students 
in  the  university  to  receive  certain  instruction  in  agri- 
culture. It  was  even  provided  that  no  students  should 
receive  a  diploma  who  had  not  attended  lectures  upon 
general  agriculture.  This  compulsory  baptism  of  un- 
willing literary  recipients  with  agricultural  knowledge 
afforded  a  subject  of  humorous  and  earnest  protest 
during  those  early  years.  The  law  imposed  no  obliga- 
tion that  agriculture  should  be  a  part  of  the  course  of 
instruction  of  all  students  in  these  national  schools, 
but  only  that  provision  should  be  made  for  instruction 
in  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  Both  Mr.  Cor- 
nell and  President  White  were  disappointed  at  the 
failure  of  their  efforts  to  secure  an  able  scientist  and 
teacher  as  professor  of  agriculture  during  the  first 
three  years  of  the  history  of  the  university.  The  de- 
partment had  been  equipped  with  professorships  of 
agricultural  chemistry,  of  veterinary  medicine  and 
surgery,  of  botany,  horticulture,  and  arboriculture. 
Three  courses  of  study  were,  however,  arranged,  a 
thorough  and  systematic  course  of  four  years  leading 
to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science,  and  two  abridged 
courses,  one  of  three  and  the  other  of  two  years,  com- 
prising most  of  the  instruction  immediately  relating 
to  agriculture.  These  courses  were  designed  to  meet 
the  need  of  students  who  were  unable  to  complete  a 
full  course  of  study,  and  who  desired  to  avail  them- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      397 

selves  of  a  certain  amount  of  agricultural  knowledge 
before  returning  to  their  profession  as  farmers.  The 
requisites  for  admission  to  these  courses  were  low,  as 
they  were  to  all  courses  in  the  university.  For  ad- 
mission to  the  freslunan  class  in  the  full  course,  a 
good  sound  English  education,  including  algebra  to 
quadratics,  was  required;  but  for  admission  to  the 
abridged  courses  an  examination  in  elementary  Eng- 
lish was  alone  demanded.  Facility  was  offered  to 
special  students  to  follow  certain  lines  of  work  in  the 
laboratories  and  gardens  under  the  direction  of  the 
respective  professors.  On  February  10,  1870,  the 
Hon.  George  Geddes  was  elected  professor  of  agricul- 
ture. He,  too,  had  been  prominent  in  the  promotion 
of  the  agricultural  interests  in  the  state,  but  did  not 
accept  the  position.  There  were,  however,  in  various 
colleges  scientific  professors  of  agriculture  who  had 
won  distinction  for  their  success  in  developing  in- 
struction in  this  field,  but  who  were  not  available. 
Those  who  had  been  nominated  here  were  men  rather 
of  general  interest  in  agriculture  than  of  special  scien- 
tific attainments. 

Mr.  Louis  Spaulding  remained  in  connection  with 
the  agricultural  department  but  one  year.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  a  practical  farmer  was  made  director  of 
the  university  farm,  and  the  professorship  of  agricul- 
ture remained  vacant  for  a  year,  when,  on  June  28, 
1871,  Henry  H.  McCandless  was  appointed  professor 
of  agriculture.  Mr.  McCandless  had  been  connected 
with  an  agricultural  school  at  Glasnevin,  in  Ireland. 
He  had  directed  the  farm,  or  been  foreman  or  super- 
intendent of  some  portion  of  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests of  that  institution,  but  was  unfamiliar  with  the 
demands  of  American  agriculture.  During  his  period 
of  service  the  south  barn  was  erected,  whose  archi- 
tecture has  been  the  subject  of  amusing  comment  ever 


398      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

since.  In  1873  Professor  Isaac  P.  Roberts  of  the 
Iowa  Agricnltiiral  College  was  appointed  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture.  From  this  time  dates  the  proper 
development  of  the  department  and  the  scientific 
direction  of  the  farm.  The  farm  was  no  longer  culti- 
vated simply  for  the  production  of  crops,  but  to  test 
certain  important  principles.  Soon  after  his  appoint- 
ment an  appropriation  of  one  thousand  dollars  was 
made  to  fit  up  the  Agricultural  Museum.  Certain 
illustrative  material  had  previously  been  ordered  by 
President  l¥hite,  among  them  the  Rau  models,  a  series 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  models  of  plows 
illustrating  the  history,  development,  and  varied  use 
of  the  plow  in  different  ages,  also  a  collection  of  cereal 
grains,  a  duplicate  of  the  royal  collection  in  Edinburgh, 
which  had  been  presented  by  the  British  government. 
For  the  first  twenty-five  years  the  agricultural  in- 
struction in  Cornell  University  was  a  "  department  " 
of  the  university.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  on  June  20,  1888,  the  departments  of  agri- 
culture, agricultural  chemistry,  veterinary  science, 
entomology,  botany,  and  horticulture  were  united 
under  the  name,  ''  College  of  Agriculture  of  Cornell 
University,"  with  Professor  I.  P.  Roberts  as  dean, 
later  director.  From  that  time  until  the  present  the 
growth  of  the  institution  has  been  steady  and  marked. 
The  first  great  expansion  of  the  work  of  the  college 
had  come  before  this  time,  however,  as  a  result  of  the 
organization  of  experiment  stations  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Federal  act  approved  by  President  Cleveland, 
March  2,  1887,  establishing  experiment  stations  in  the 
different  states  and  territories.  Before  this  time, 
however,  an  experiment  station  had  been  established 
at  Cornell  University  without  state  or  Federal  aid. 
This  institution  was  known  as  the  ' '  Cornell  University 
Experiment  Station." 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      399 

It  was  organized  at  the  university  in  February,  1879, 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  agriculture  by  scientific 
experimentation  and  investigation. 

The  Faculty  of  Agriculture  of  the  university,  to- 
gether with  delegates — one  each — from  the  State  Agri- 
cultural Society,  State  Grange,  State  Dairymen's 
Associations,  Western  New  York  Farmers '  Club,  Cen- 
tral New  York  Farmers '  Club,  Elmira  Farmers '  Club, 
American  Institute  Farmers'  Club,  and  Ithaca  Farm- 
ers' Club,  constitute  the  Board  of  Control  of  the  sta- 
tion. 

At  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Control, 
held  at  Cornell  University,  June  20,  1879,  the  following 
officers  were  elected:  President,  Professor  I.  P.  Rob- 
erts; Director,  Professor  G.  C.  Caldwell;  Treasurer, 
Professor  A.  N.  Prentiss ;  Secretary,  Professor  W.  R. 
Lazenby. 

The  immediate  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 
station  was  vested  in  an  executive  committee,  which 
consisted  of  the  four  officers  named  above,  and  Presi- 
dent G.  W.  Hotfman  of  the  Elmira  Farmers'  Club. 
This  committee  was  charged  with  the  proper  disburse- 
ment of  the  funds  of  the  station  and  the  general  direc- 
tion of  its  work,  and  carrying  into  effect  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable the  suggestions  and  wishes  of  the  Board  of 
Control  as  expressed  at  the  annual  meeting. 

The  Cornell  University  Experiment  Station  was 
finally  merged  into  the  Federal  station  established  in 
1887.  Its  most  active  period  of  existence,  however, 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  three  or  four  years  after 
its  organization.  It  published  three  annual  reports, 
which  contain  much  valuable  matter  and  are  now  much 
sought. 

In  the  meantime  another  experiment  station  had 
been  organized  in  New  York  State  at  Geneva.  This 
was  founded  on  the  state  law  of  June  26,  1880.     The 


400     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

station  was  soon  in  working  order,  and  in  1882  pub- 
lished its  first  annual  report.  From  that  day  until  this 
the  work  of  that  institution  has  been  growing  in  extent 
and  importance,  and  it  is  now  one  of  the  leading  insti- 
tutions of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  A  few  other 
states  had  also  organized  experiment  stations.  The 
general  result  of  all  this  work  and  the  agitation  that 
grew  out  of  it  was  the  passage  of  the  so-called  Hatch 
Act  by  Congress  in  1887,  supplementing  the  work  of 
the  Land  Grant  colleges  by  adding  agricultural  re- 
search thereto.  The  general  provisions  of  this  act  are 
as  follows : 

To  meet  the  cost  of  investigation,  in  addition  to  in- 
struction, a  special  appropriation  was  made.  ' '  In  order 
to  aid  in  acquiring  and  diffusing  among  the  people  of 
the  United  States  useful  and  practical  information  on 
subjects  connected  with  agriculture,  and  to  promote 
scientific  investigation  and  experiment  respecting  the 
principles  and  applications  of  agricultural  science, 
there  shall  be  established  under  direction  of  the  college 
or  colleges,  or  agricultural  departments  of  colleges  in 
each  state  or  territory,  in  accordance  with  '  the  Con- 
gressional Land  Grant, '  a  department  to  be  known  and 
designated  as  an  Agricultural  Experiment  Station." 
The  act  of  Congress  provided  "  That  it  shall  be  the 
object  and  duty  of  said  experiment  stations  to  conduct 
original  researches,  or  verify  experiments  on  the 
physiology  of  plants  and  animals;  the  diseases  to 
which  they  are  severally  subject,  with  the  remedies  for 
the  same ;  the  chemical  composition  of  useful  plants  at 
their  different  stages  of  growth;  the  comparative  ad- 
vantages of  rotative  cropping,  as  pursued  under  a 
varying  series  of  crops ;  the  capacity  of  new  plants  or 
trees  for  acclimation;  the  analysis  of  soils  and  water; 
the  chemical  composition  of  manures,  natural  or  arti- 
ficial, with  experiments  designed  to  test  their  compara- 


COLLEGE    OF    AGRICULTURE 


Liberty  Hyde  Bailey 
John  Craig 


Isaac  Phillips  Roberts 
Henry  Hiram  Wing 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      401 


tive  effects  on  crops  of  different  kinds ;  the  adaptation 
and  value  of  grasses  and  forage  plants ;  the  composi- 
tion and  digestibility  of  the  different  kinds  of  food  for 
domestic  animals ;  the  scientific  and  economic  questions 
involved  in  the  production  of  butter  and  cheese;  and 
such  other  researches  or  experiments  bearing  directly 
on  the  agricultural  industry  of  the  United  States  as 
may  in  each  case  be  deemed  advisable,  having  due 
regard  to  the  varying  conditions  and  needs  of  the 
respective  states  or  territories." 

The  immediate  result  of  the  passage  of  the  Hatch 
act  was  the  establishment  of  a  department  of  horti- 
culture. The  preliminary  steps  in  the  organization  of 
this  department  were  taken  in  1888,  but  the  department 
was  not  formally  opened  until  the  beginning  of  1889, 
when  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey,  who  had  held  a  chair  of 
horticulture  and  landscape  gardening  in  the  Michigan 
Agricultural  College,  assumed  charge  of  the  work, 
having  visited  Europe  in  the  preceding  year  in  order 
to  inspect  similar  institutions  there.  Professor  Bailey 
was  made  a  full  professor  in  the  university,  as  well  as 
head  of  the  horticultural  department  in  the  Experi- 
ment Station.  This  chair  was  one  of  the  earliest  of 
its  kind  in  this  country.  The  work  was  organized  upon 
a  new  basis.  The  testing  of  varieties  of  plants,  and 
the  mere  manual  skill  in  horticultural  operations,  were 
considered  to  be  of  less  importance  in  an  educational 
institution  than  fundamental  training  from  the  peda- 
gogical point  of  view.  Although  there  was  not  a 
single  item  of  equipment  when  the  department  was 
organized,  forcing  houses,  horticultural  library,  horti- 
cultural herbarium,  and  other  facilities  were  rapidly 
provided.  The  scientific  treatment  of  horticultural 
subjects  in  education  really  dates  in  this  country  from 
the  organization  of  this  horticultural  department  at 
Cornell  University,  and  it  is  generally  so  recognized. 


402      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTOEY 

Students  came  in  large  numbers,  particularly  those 
who  wished  to  take  special  and  advanced  work,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  the  larger  part  of  the  new  de- 
partments of  horticulture  were  manned  by  Cornell 
men.  In  fact,  the  establishment  of  horticultural  de- 
partments upon  a  scientific  and  pedagogical  basis  in 
the  universities  and  colleges  may  be  said  to  date  from 
the  early  nineties,  when  the  Cornell  work  began  to  get 
well  under  headway.  Coincident  with  this  educational 
work,  a  new  type  of  horticultural  literature  began  to 
develop  as  the  result  of  Professor  Bailey's  writings 
and  work. 

The  influence  of  the  agricultural  work  at  the  uni- 
versity under  the  able  leadership  of  Director  Eoberts 
and  his  associates  began  to  attract  attention  in  the 
state.  In  the  year  1892  Governor  Flower  called  the 
attention  of  the  legislature  to  the  advantages  offered 
by  Cornell  University  for  conducting  successfully  the 
various  state  agencies  for  the  promotion  of  agricul- 
ture, which  had  been  previously  divided  and  which,  in 
his  view,  should  be  concentrated  under  the  direction 
of  one  bureau.  He  said :  ' '  I  think  it  will  be  conceded 
that  more  effective  scientific  work  of  this  nature  can 
be  done  in  connection  with  a  great  educational  institu- 
tion, and  the  grouping  of  these  now  scattered  depart- 
ments of  agriculture  at  one  place  and  under  one  gen- 
eral supervision  will  also  be  a  considerable  saving  of 
expense  and  maintenance.  Cornell  University  fur- 
nishes an  excellent  nucleus  for  carrying  on  this  work, 
and  its  facilities  and  instructors  might  be  utilized  by 
the  state  to  great  advantage  to  agricultural  interests. 
The  State  Meteorological  Bureau  is  already  located 
there.  There  is  also  an  Agricultural  Experiment  Sta- 
tion already  established  and  doing  effective  work. 
Moreover,  the  institution  has  established  practical 
courses  of  instruction  in  agriculture,  botany,  horticul- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      403 


ture,  dair}^  husbandry,  animal  industry,  poultry  keep- 
ing, and  veterinary  science.     It  offers  free  of  charge 
and  without  examination  to  all  persons  who  are  sixteen 
years  of  age  competent  instruction  in  these  subjects 
for  one  or  more  terms."     The  Governor  proceeds: 
"  All  this  is  exactly  in  line  with  what  the  state  is  now 
trying  to  accomplish  through  miscellaneous  agencies 
for  the  encouragement  of  modern  methods  of  agricul- 
ture.   The  question  presented  is  whether  official  efforts 
can  be  combined  with  these  private  efforts  in  the  in- 
terests of  both  economy  and  efficiency.    ...    It  is 
entirely,  however,  with  a  view  to  such  advantage  that 
I  would  urge  the  concentration  at  Cornell  University 
of  the  various  agencies  for  promoting  scientific  agri- 
culture.    To  carry  out  this  suggestion  would  not  only 
enable  the  state  to  do  more  effective  work  immediately 
and  at  less  expense,  but  would  permit  the  state  from 
time  to  time  to  extend  its  field  of  usefulness  in  this 
direction  without  the  creation  of  new  boards  and  new 
officers.     The  proper  diffusion  of  knowledge  with  ref- 
erence to  the  preservation  law  of  our  forests  is  of  vital 
interest  to  the  future  welfare  of  the  state,  and  could 
be  obtained  through  such  an  agency.     The  same  is  true 
of  the  spread  of  veterinary  science.     Public  attention 
has  only  lately  been  called  to  the  vast  importance  of 
this  subject,  not  merely  as  it  affects  the  value  of  our 
live  stock,  but  because  of  its  intimate  relation  to  the 
question  of  public  health.    Modern  science  has  demon- 
strated that  a  large  proportion  of  human  diseases  is 
directly  traceable  to  diseases  of  animals.    .    .    .    And 
proper  regard  for  the  health  of  the  community  will 
eventually  demand  scientific  protection  against  dan- 
gers of  this  kind.    .    .    .    Our  state  is  too  thoroughly 
committed   to   the   encouragement   of   agriculture   to 
abandon  it.     State  energy  and  public  money,  however, 
should  not  be  frittered  away  by  misappropriation  and 


404     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

misdirection.  The  time  is  ripe  for  the  adoption  of 
some  comprehensive,  systematic,  and  intelligent  policy 
which  shall  assure  the  best  results  at  the  least  expendi- 
ture." Acting  in  accordance  with  these  suggestions 
the  legislature  appropriated  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
a  building  and  its  equipment  for  dairy  husbandry. 
This  fine  and  skilfully  designed  edifice  of  Ohio  sand- 
stone was  erected  in  1893  upon  the  east  side  of  the 
north  quadrangle  of  the  university.  It  contains  lec- 
ture rooms,  a  reading-room,  a  laboratory  for  general 
agricultural  analysis  and  a  smaller  laboratory  for 
special  investigations,  and  the  office  of  the  professor 
of  dairy  husbandry;  also  rooms  for  the  manufacture 
of  butter  and  cheese  and  storage  rooms,  together  with 
a  steam  engine  for  furnishing  the  requisite  power  to 
be  employed. 

The  next  epoch  in  the  development  of  the  agricul- 
tural work  of  Cornell  was  the  opening  of  the  short 
winter-courses  for  farm  youth  in  1893.  The  purpose  of 
these  courses  is  to  offer  opportunities  to  young  men 
and  women  who  are  interested  in  agriculture  but  who 
cannot  afford  the  time  or  money  to  go  to  college,  or 
who  perhaps  may  not  be  able  to  pass  the  entrance  re- 
quirements for  a  regular  four  years'  course.  This 
movement  had  started  earlier  in  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  and 
a  few  other  places.  It  had  now  invaded  the  East  and 
was  quickly  taken  up  by  Cornell  University,  the  spirit 
of  which  has  always  been  to  reach  the  people  in  every 
efficient  way,  even  though  the  means  seem  to  cut  across 
traditional  academic  methods.  In  this  way  the  uni- 
versity had  been  able  still  further  to  serve  the  interests 
of  the  people  of  the  state.  The  winter-course  has 
grown  in  efficiency,  and  the  attendance  has  grown 
quite  as  rapidly  as  could  have  been  expected  con- 
sidering the  lack  of  accommodations  for  housing  the 
students.     In  the  five  years  from  1899  to  1904  the 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      405 

number  of  winter-course  students  was  five  hundred 
and  thirty.  The  attendance  the  present  winter  is 
about  two  hundred,  distributed  in  three  branches, 
namely,  the  general  agricultural  course,  the  dairy 
course,  and  the  poultry  course.  There  is  probably  no 
instruction  in  the  university  which  is  more  vigorous, 
direct,  and  effective  than  that  which  is  given  in  eleven 
weeks  to  the  winter-course  agricultural  students.  The 
work  is  planned  for  a  definite  end.  It  is  condensed 
and  energetic.  It  is  astonishing  how  much  the  farm- 
students  are  able  to  get  out  of  a  course  of  this  kind. 
They  invariably  go  home  with  an  enlarged  idea  of  agri- 
cultural enterprises,  knowledge  that  enables  them  to 
make  the  work  more  effective,  a  loyal  Cornell  spirit, 
and  a  determination  to  make  the  most  of  every 
economic,  political,  and  social  movement  that  tends  to 
the  betterment  of  agricultural  interests. 

The  next  epoch  in  the  development  of  the  work  of 
the  College  of  Agriculture  was  the  passage  of  the  so- 
called  '^  Agricultural  Extension  Law  "  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  New  York  in  the  spring  of  1894.  This  bill, 
appropriating  at  that  time  eight  thousand  dollars  for 
work  in  one  part  of  the  state,  was  the  outgrowth  of 
the  horticultural  work  done  by  Professor  Bailey  and 
his  associates.  The  theory  underlying  the  bill  was 
that  the  university  should  do  whatever  it  could  to 
improve  the  agricultural  conditions  on  the  farms  in 
various  parts  of  the  state.  This  work  was  organized 
the  first  year  by  Professor  Bailey.  Out  of  it  have 
grown  the  various  extension  enterprises  which  are  now 
a  distinctive  feature  of  the  work  of  the  Cornell  College 
of  Agriculture,  and  which  impart  a  new  point  of  view 
and  a  practically  new  method  in  agricultural  education. 
Of  course  the  beginnings  of  this  kind  of  work  might  be 
traced  in  many  institutions  and  in  many  previous 
years;  but  the  concrete  working-out  of  the  purpose 


406     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

to  extend  the  work  of  the  agricultural  college  directly 
to  the  homes  of  the  people  was  the  result  of  this  New 
York  enterprise. 

This  extension  work  is  primarily  educational  rather 
than  experimental.  However,  much  experimental 
work  is  conducted  on  the  farms  in  various  parts  of  the 
state,  in  order  to  discover  new  truth,  but  primarily  to 
teach  the  farmer  how  to  work  out  his  problems  for 
himself.  That  is  to  say,  it  was  the  effort  to  press 
home  the  fact,  as  Professor  Bailey  puts  it,  "  that 
every  farm  is  an  experiment  station,  and  the  farmer  is 
the  director  thereof. ' '  The  central  experiment  station 
in  any  state  can  discover  general  truth  and  enunciate 
principles;  but  these  truths  must  be  applied  and 
worked  out  on  each  farm  for  itself.  An  educational 
enterprise  should  follow  closely  in  the  steps  of  re- 
search; and  this  was  supplied  by  the  extension  work. 
Hundreds  of  experiments  are  now  made  on  the  farms 
every  year  by  a  competent  staff.  Aside  from  all  this 
the  schools  were  invaded  with  the  purpose  of  putting 
the  children  into  touch  with  their  daily  lives.  The 
nature-study  movement  in  its  various  phases  has  grown 
out  of  this  idea.  The  Cornell  nature-study  movement 
is  by  far  the  largest  enterprise  of  its  kind  connected 
with  the  agricultural  phase  of  the  subject.  It  has 
awakened  widespread  discussion  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  and  its  publications  have  been  very  numerous. 

The  extension  work  also  took  up  the  subject  of 
teaching  by  means  of  correspondence.  As  early  as  the 
winter  of  1896-97  a  preliminary  class  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred farmers  was  enrolled.  In  the  following  winter 
(1897-98)  about  five  thousand  farmers  were  enrolled. 
In  serving  this  large  class  about  two  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  pages  of  literature  were  in  that  year 
disseminated  free.  After  two  or  three  years  of  experi- 
menting,  the  reading  course  became   thoroughly  or- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      407 


ganized  and  established  in  1900,  when  Mr.  John  Craig 
was  made  Professor  of  ' '  Extension  Teaching  in  Agri- 
culture," the  first  position  of  its  kind  in  North 
America.  Professor  Craig  had  charge  of  the  reading 
course  and  the  winter-course  work.  In  1900  a  Farmers' 
Wives'  Reading  Course  was  also  definitely  organized, 
there  having  been  some  preliminary  work  in  the  year 
or  two  preceding.  At  the  present  time  more  than  ten 
thousand  farmers  and  farmers'  wives  are  enrolled  in 
these  two  courses  each  winter.  These  persons  are 
provided  with  literature  published  by  the  college,  and 
have  returned  answers  to  the  various  questions  that 
are  under  discussion.  It  is  the  special  purpose  of 
these  reading  courses  to  reach  the  farmers  and 
farmers'  wives  who  do  not  read  books  on  these  par- 
ticular subjects,  and  to  help  them  to  an  understanding 
of  the  principles  that  underlie  farm  operations,  and 
the  point  of  view  that  should  lie  behind  the  best 
country  life. 

The  idea  of  extension  work  in  agriculture  was  for- 
mulated at  Cornell  before  the  movement  originated  for 
the  enactment  of  the  law  to  provide  funds  for  this  pur- 
pose. In  January,  1893,  in  an  address  to  the  agricul- 
tural students,  Professor  Bailey  used  these  words: 
* '  For  the  teaching  of  agriculture,  then,  we  must  make 
a  new  species  of  curriculum,  and  some  of  the  instruc- 
tion must  be  given  away  from  the  university,  where 
special  needs  or  special  equipments  exist.  This  in- 
struction, for  best  results,  should  be  given  partly  in 
class-work,  partly  in  actual  laboratory  practice  upon 
a  sufficient  scale  to  demonstrate  the  value  of  the 
methods  as  farm  operations,  and  partly  upon  farms 
and  in  gardens  in  various  parts  of  the  state. ' ' 

The  publications  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  have 
been  voluminous. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 


408      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

College  of  Agriculture  since  its  organization  was  its 
establishment  as  a  State  College  of  Agriculture  by  act 
of  the  legislature,  approved  by  the  governor,  May  9, 
1904.  This  act  came  as  the  result  of  a  hard-fought 
contest  in  the  state.  The  contest  was  an  exceedingly 
complex  one,  as  it  involved  many  questions  of  educa- 
tional policy  as  well  as  of  agricultural  education  itself. 
The  movement  started  with  a  request  from  the  legis- 
lature for  money  with  which  to  build  and  equip  build- 
ings in  which  to  house  the  work  of  the  college.  It  was 
contended  by  the  university  on  the  one  hand  that  the 
state  was  obligated  under  the  terms  of  the  acceptance 
of  the  Land  Grant  Act  to  provide  such  accommoda- 
tions. It  was  contended  by  the  farmers,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  state 
demanded  such  equipment.  The  chief  opposition  came 
from  other  colleges  and  universities,  which  opposed  it 
from  various  points  of  view,  but  apparently  largely 
from  antagonism  to  Cornell  University  and  to  the 
principle  of  the  state's  aiding  any  particular  institu- 
tion. The  contest  resulted  in  a  very  compact  organi- 
zation of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  state.  The 
legislature  appropriated  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  for  buildings  and  equipment,  and,  in  the 
enactment,  established  a  state  college.  The  law  in  this 
respect  reads  as  follows : 

*'  For  the  purpose  of  constructing  and  equipping  a 
suitable  building  or  buildings  for  a  state  college  of 
agriculture  at  Cornell  University  upon  the  grounds 
of  said  university  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  to  enable  it  to 
carry  on  efficiently  the  work  of  instruction  and  investi- 
gation in  agriculture  for  the  state,  the  sum  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as 
may  be  necessary,  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  any 
moneys  in  the  treasury,  not  otherwise  appropriated, 
only  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  which  shall  be 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      409 

available  during  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  four. 
Said  buildings  shall  be  known  as  the  New  York  State 
College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell  University,  and  such 
buildings  and  equipment  shall  be  and  remain  the  prop- 
erty of  the  state.  The  buildings  constructed  shall 
include  a  principal  building  costing  not  more  than 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  a  hall 
for  agricultural  machinery,  a  stock-judging  pavilion, 
and  a  horticultural  building. ' ' 

A  radical  reorganization  of  the  College  of  Agricul- 
ture took  place  early  in  1903.  Professor  Roberts, 
having  reached  the  age  of  seventy,  was  retired.  His 
services  marked  an  epoch  in  agricultural  education. 
He  had  taken  the  Cornell  College  of  Agriculture 
through  the  trying  experimental  era,  when  agricul- 
tural education  was  in  a  formative  stage.  For  a  gen- 
eration he  had  clung  tenaciously  to  his  ideals, — a  col- 
lege that  should  stand  for  the  genuine  interests  of  the 
persons  on  the  farm,  rather  than  for  mere  applied 
science.  In  all  those  years  he  had  attacked  many  farm 
problems,  often  single-handed,  and  worked  so  cordially 
with  the  farmers  of  the  state  that  he  won  their  un- 
divided sympathy  and  support.  In  the  later  years  of 
his  directorship  he  had  associated  with  him  many 
capable  men,  specialists  in  their  fields;  but  his  own 
place,  as  counselor  and  agricultural  philosopher,  was 
unrivaled  and  unassailed.  When  Professor  Bailey, 
his  successor,  took  up  the  work,  he  was  able  to  make 
further  progress  with  the  institution  and  to  enter  new 
fields  of  usefulness  because  Professor  Roberts  had  in- 
trenched the  college  in  the  public  confidence.  Pro- 
fessor Roberts  is  now  professor  of  agriculture  emeri- 
tus. 

The  reorganization  aimed  first  at  the  increasing  of 
the  faculty,  and  strong  men  were  called.  The  old  chair 
of  agriculture  was  further  divided,  until  it  is  now  split 


410     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

up  into  agronomy,  animal  husbandry,  poultry  hus- 
bandry, dairy  industry,  soil  investigation.  The  en- 
trance requirements  were  equivalent  to  those  for  the 
College  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  All  other  work  was  put 
on  an  equal  pedagogic  plane.  The  general  purposes 
and  work  of  the  reorganized  college,  as  well  as  many 
interesting  historical  facts,  are  well  set  forth  in  Di- 
rector Bailey's  first  report  to  the  president  of  the  uni- 
versity, from  which  we  quote : 

' '  The  underlying  motive  of  the  College  of  Agricul- 
ture is  to  reach  the  farming  people  in  terms  of  their 
daily  lives.  This  means  the  developing  of  university 
training  in  terms  of  agricultural  subjects,  the  carrying 
of  educational  work  directly  to  the  homes  of  the  rural 
people,  and  the  founding  of  certain  lines  of  work  inter- 
mediate between  the  two.  The  mission  of  an  agricul- 
tural college  has  now  extended  beyond  mere  academic 
lines.  Extension  work  must  be  added  to  college  and 
university  work. 

The  Regular  University  Work 

' '  The  first  effort  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  is  to 
be  devoted  to  the  increasing  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
regular  university  courses  in  agriculture.  The  cus- 
tomary courses  must  be  strengthened  and  new  courses 
must  be  added.  The  strengthening  of  the  old  regular 
courses  can  be  accomplished  by  subdividing  them  so 
that  the  instructor  is  able  to  devote  himself  to  a  more 
special  field,  and  by  providing  better  appliances  and 
facilities.  Distinct  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
former  category.  The  gradual  subdivision  of  the  old 
professorship  of  agriculture  is  a  good  measure  of 
progress  in  agricultural  education.  The  agricultural 
work  in  Cornell  University  started  with  three  profess- 
orships,— agriculture,  agricultural  chemistry,  veter- 
inary medicine.    In  the  early  days  of  agricultural  edu- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      411 

cation,  agricultural  chemistry  was  considered  to  be  the 
one  essential  and  fundamental  subject.  Yet  agricul- 
tural chemistry  has  not  greatly  differentiated  itself  in 
the  faculties  of  the  agricultural  colleges,  whereas 
'^  agriculture  "  has  undergone  a  constant  process  of 
disintegration,  each  new  subdivision  bringing  the  col- 
lege subjects  nearer  to  the  work-a-day  lives  of  the 
people.  At  Cornell  the  differentiation  at  the  close  of 
Professor  Roberts 's  administration  had  gone  so  far  as 
the  establishing  of  chairs  of  entomology  (largely  in  its 
relations  with  agriculture),  horticulture,  animal  in- 
dustry, and  dairy  husbandry  (the  last  two  as  one  unit). 
This  is  a  most  gratifying  growth,  particularly  in  con- 
sideration of  the  fact  that  Professor  Roberts 's  incum- 
bency covered  the  period  of  pioneering  and  experiment 
in  agricultural  education.  During  the  past  year  this 
movement  has  been  carried  several  steps  further  by 
the  establishment  of  departments  of  agronomy,  soils, 
animal  husbandry,  and  dairy  industry  as  separate 
units,  and  the  subdepartment  of  poultry  husbandry; 
and  by  the  marking  out  of  other  units  for  further  de- 
velopment, as  rural  mechanics,  rural  engineering,  rural 
economy  and  sociology,  woman's  work,  landscape 
gardening  and  outdoor  art,  nature  study.  Still  further 
differentiation  must  take  place  in  colleges  of  agricul- 
ture as  well  as  in  colleges  of  mechanic  arts  and  of 
medicine.  In  material  equipment  there  has  been  little 
growth  during  the  past  year,  but  the  appropriation 
made  by  the  last  legislature  will  supply  many  of  the 
facilities  that  have  been  much  needed  for  many  years. 
The  first  element  of  growth,  however,  is  the  securing 
of  progressive  and  enthusiastic  teachers,  and  in  this 
regard  the  expansion  of  the  past  year  has  been  most 
gratifying.  The  College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell 
University  should  stand  for  the  highest  possible  grade 
of  genuine  university  work,  standing  in  this  respect 


412     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

no  whit  lower  than  any  other  college  in  the  university. 
The  agricultural  subjects  are  capable  of  being  put  into 
systematic  and  pedagogic  form  and  of  being  made  the 
equivalent  as  educative  means  of  any  of  the  customary 
or  historic  academic  subjects.  The  country  will  always 
have  need  of  at  least  a  few  institutions  in  which  the 
agricultural  courses,  both  as  respects  entrance  require- 
ments and  academic  work,  are  of  true  university  grade. 
For  several  years  Cornell  University  has  stood  for 
high-grade  graduate  work  in  agricultural  subjects,  and 
it  was  the  first  of  the  universities  to  give  the  degree 
of  Ph.  D.  for  such  work.  It  is  the  expectation  that 
such  opportunities  will  be  increased,  for  there  are 
special  reasons  why  this  university  should  be  signal- 
ized for  this  work. 

''  The  numbers  of  students  pursuing  the  regular 
courses  in  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  taking  grad- 
uate work  in  agricultural  subjects  for  the  past  year 
are  as  follows : 

Freshmen 38 

Sophomores 17 

Juniors 12 

Seniors 10 

77 
Graduate  Students 16 

93 

The  Intermediate  Work 

''It  so  happens  in  the  evolution  of  education  that 
there  have  been  no  institutions  in  which  secondary 
agricultural  work  was  given.  Until  very  recent  years 
there  have  been  no  agricultural  institutions  below  the 
college;  and  even  those  that  are  now  developing  are 
yet  largely  experimental  and  uncoordinated.  As  a 
consequence  the  colleges  of  agriculture  have  been 
called  upon  to  do  secondary  agricultural  work.     To  an 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      413 

important  extent  they  have  had  to  do  work  that  should 
have  been  done  by  high  schools  and  even  grammar 
schools.  There  is  no  agricultural  sentiment  in  the 
schools,  not  even  in  those  in  rural  districts.  The 
schools  lead  to  other  lines  of  college  work,  largely  to 
the  literary  and  scientific  lines,  although  manual  train- 
ing has  recently  become  a  well-established  tendency  in 
school  work,  holding  the  attention  of  the  pupil  who  is 
mechanically  inclined.  The  time  cannot  be  far  away 
when  schools  will  also  teach  subjects  that  are  related 
to  the  lives  of  country  children  and  that  will  appeal  to 
the  agriculturally  inclined;  and  such  teaching  will  not 
only  make  the  schools  more  resourceful  but  will  act  as 
a  feeder  to  the  colleges  of  agriculture.  At  present  the 
colleges  of  agriculture  are  both  colleges  and  prepara- 
tory schools,  confusedly  admitting  the  trained  and  the 
untrained,  establishing  courses  and  then  fitting  men 
to  enter  them.  In  time  this  will  pass.  The  intermedi- 
ate work  will  be  segregated  from  the  regular  academic 
work,  partly  in  institutions  connected  with  the  col- 
leges of  agriculture,  partly  in  new  separate  institutions 
in  the  commonwealth,  and  partly  in  new  courses  in- 
jected into  existing  secondary  schools. 

' '  The  students  of  the  intermediate  grade  now  in  the 
College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell  University  are  of 
two  categories,  specials  and  winter-course  students. 

'^  The  special  students  are  admitted  without  exam- 
ination by  the  director  on  presenting  evidence  that  they 
desire  the  work  for  agricultural  reasons,  and  that  they 
are  sufficiently  qualified  in  elementary  branches  to 
enable  them  to  pursue  the  studies  with  satisfaction  to 
themselves  and  credit  to  the  college.  They  must  be  at 
least  eighteen  years  of  age.  The  special  course  is  de- 
signed to  meet  the  needs  of  farm  youth  who  desire 
training  in  agricultural  subjects,  but  who  have  not  been 
able  to  prepare  themselves  to  enter  the  regular  course 


414      COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

or  who  have  not  the  time  or  means  to  enable  them  to 
do  so.  The  farm  youth  often  does  not  have  high- 
school  advantages ;  he  is  likely  to  arrive  rather  late  at 
a  desire  for  agricultural  studies;  therefore  there  are 
special  reasons  why  the  opportunities  afforded  by  a 
college  of  agriculture  should  be  opened  to  him.  Partic- 
ular effort  is  made  to  debar  persons  who  are  not  gen- 
uinely interested  in  agricultural  subjects  from  enter- 
ing as  specials.  These  special  students  are  usually 
earnest  and  capable,  and  many  of  them  make  up  their 
preparatory  work  and  enter  the  regular  course. 

'^  The  special  students  are  allowed  to  pursue  any  of 
the  regular  agricultural  electives  so  far  as  their 
previous  training  will  permit.  Whether  they  will  be 
allowed  to  elect  any  particular  subject  depends  on  the 
professor  in  charge;  the  director  of  the  college  merely 
admits  them  as  students,  but  does  not  admit  them  to 
classes.  The  special  student  usually  remains  at  the 
university  two  years  or  less.  Having  completed  a 
year's  work  of  thirty  hours,  he  is  given  a  certificate 
therefor.  It  is  evident  that  the  presence  in  the  same 
class  of  four-year  men  and  special  men  is  prejudicial 
to  the  best  teaching.  The  developing  of  a  separate 
course  of  study  for  special  students  is  greatly  to  be 
desired,  but  such  a  multiplication  of  classes  cannot  be 
undertaken  with  the  present  teaching  force. 

* '  A  new  kind  of  special-course  work  was  established 
last  year  for  those  desiring  to  fit  themselves  for 
teachers  of  nature-study,  particularly  as  regards  the 
bearing  of  the  subject  on  country  life.  The  instruc- 
tion is  of  two  kinds — in  subject-matter  and  in  teaching 
practice.  The  subject-matter  is  secured  in  the  regular 
university  classes ;  the  practice  is  secured  in  the  public 
schools  of  Ithaca.  Persons  actually  engaged  in  teach- 
ing, and  also  all  students  in  the  university  who  signify 
their  intention  to  teach,  are  eligible.    A  certificate  is 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      415 

to  be  given  on  completion  of  sixty  hours  in  the  courses 
already  prescribed,  together  with  such  other  work  in 
the  College  of  Agriculture  as  may  be  approved  by  the 
director.  This  course  was  not  regularly  announced  in 
the  university  publications,  but  six  students  availed 
themselves  of  it.  This  number  was  as  many  as  we 
desired,  for  the  work  has  been  an  experiment.  I  am 
now  convinced  that  the  course  is  a  useful  one  and  that 
it  will  grow. 

"  The  number  of  special  students  enrolled  the  pres- 
ent academic  year  is  sixty-five. 

"  The  winter-course  students  comprise  persons  who 
can  spend  only  one  winter,  or  part  of  it,  at  the  univer- 
sity, and  who  desire  the  most  immediately  practical 
kind  of  information  and  training  to  help  them  on  their 
farms.  These  young  men  and  women  pursue  an  eleven- 
weeks  '  course,  January-March.  Heretofore  they  have 
been  divided  into  two  groups — those  pursuing  general 
agricultural  subjects  and  those  pursuing  dairying. 
Almost  invariably  these  students  are  earnest  and  en- 
thusiastic, and  they  derive  great  benefit  from  their 
winter  at  the  university.  Probably  no  students  in  the 
university  acquire  so  much  in  so  little  time.  Nearly 
all  of  these  students  go  directly  back  to  the  farms  or 
creameries,  and  they  become  and  remain  loyal  to  the 
College  of  Agriculture.  It  is  now  proposed  to  add 
another  co-ordinate  branch  to  the  winter-course  work 
— poultry  husbandry;  and  other  branches  will  prob- 
ably need  to  be  added  in  the  future.  The  number  of 
students  in  the  last  winter  course  was  as  follows :  in 
general  agriculture,  43 ;  dairy  students,  91 ;  total,  134. 

The  Groivth  of  the  Student-Body 

*'  Considering  all  the  disabilities  under  which  agri- 
cultural education  has  been  developed,  it  is  gratifying 
to  note  the  steady  growth  of  the  student-body  in  the 


416     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

various  agricultural  colleges.  The  era  of  pioneering 
is  now  well  past.  Agricultural  education  is  now  be- 
ginning to  articulate  with  the  public-school  systems. 
Means  and  methods  are  proceeding  along  new  peda- 
gogic lines.  There  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  the 
next  generation  will  see  the  emancipation  of  agricul- 
tural education,  as  the  last  generation  has  seen  the 
development  of  engineering  and  mechanic  arts  educa- 
tion. 

**  In  the  College  of  Agriculture  at  Cornell  Univer- 
sity the  student-body  has  increased  rapidly  in  the  past 
three  or  four  years,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
accommodations  are  wholly  inadequate.  The  census 
of  this  student-body  from  the  founding  of  the  univer- 
sity to  the  present  time  is  as  follows : 

''  I.  Regular  and  Special,  up  to  May  23,  1904. 

Regular 439 

Special 322 

Graduate  Students 47 

808 

''  n.  Short  Course,  1893-1904. 

Agricultural         ....'...     513 
Dairy 571 

1,084 

1,892 

* '  Following  are  figures  for  the  past  six  years : 

First  degrees  given 153 

Second  degrees  given 40 

193 

Regular  Special  Winter  Total 

1898-1899             44  41                     89                     174 

1899-1900             41  47                     83                     171 

1900-1901              48  51                     94                     193 

1901-1902             49  43                     96                     188 

1902-1903             60  54  121                     235 

1903-1904             77  65  134                    276 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      417 

"  The  students  in  the  College  of  Agriculture  have  a 
number  of  activities  that  are  peculiar  to  them.  The 
custom  has  arisen  of  having  a  banquet  each  spring,  to 
which  all  the  students  and  staff  in  the  college  are  in- 
vited. They  maintain  a  number  of  organizations,  as 
the  Agricultural  Association,  Horticulturists'  Lazy 
Club,  JugataB  (an  entomological  club  in  which  the 
agricultural  students  have  a  prominent  part),  and 
associations  of  the  general  agricultural  and  of  the 
dairy  students  in  the  winter  courses.  There  is  a  Greek 
letter  fraternity  in  the  college.  The  students  also  pub- 
lish a  monthly  magazine,  the  Cornell  Countryman, 
which  is  completing  its  first  year  under  most  success- 
ful circumstances.  Twice  each  month  the  director 
meets  the  students  and  faculty  in  the  Agricultural 
Assembly. 

*^  The  university  farm  contains  ninety-two  acres  of 
arable  land,  ninety-three  of  pasture,  forty-nine  of 
wood  and  waste,  five  for  orchards  and  buildings,  and 
six  for  other  purposes,  making  a  total  of  two  hundred 
and  forty-two  acres. 

Extension  Work  aivay  from  the  University 

''  The  College  of  Agriculture  is  concerned  with  the 
welfare  of  all  persons  who  live  on  the  land.  Most  of 
these  persons  cannot  come  to  college,  even  for  a  short 
time.  They  must  be  reached  by  some  form  of  exten- 
sion enterprise.  The  extension  work  is  maintained  by 
funds  appropriated  by  the  state.  It  is  professedly  a 
popular  work.  It  endeavors  to  reach  the  common 
problems  of  the  people,  to  quicken  the  agricultural 
occupations,  and  to  inspire  a  greater  interest  in  coun- 
try life.  It  is  also  a  bureau  of  publicity,  whereby  there 
is  an  exchange  of  all  important  matters  connected  with 
the  progress  of  the  agriculture  of  the  state.     The  win- 


418     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

ter  course,  described  above,  is  a  part  of  the  extension 
work.  This  extension  enterprise  is  conducted  under 
the  general  supervision  of  the  State  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture. 

* '  Aside  from  the  winter  course  there  are  about  four 
main  lines  of  effort  in  the  extension  work:  Experi- 
menting directly  with  the  farmer's  problems,  and  in- 
specting his  premises  on  occasion ;  conducting  reading 
courses  for  farmers ;  giving  lectures  and  holding  meet- 
ings about  the  state;  carrying  a  country  life  and 
nature-study  movement  into  the  public  schools. 

"  Experimental  and  Inspectional  Work.  There  are 
three  purposes  in  this  extension  experiment  work :  To 
illustrate  or  teach, — to  instruct  the  co-operator  in 
methods,  to  set  him  at  the  working  out  of  his  own  prob- 
lems, to  bring  him  into  touch  with  the  latest  discov- 
eries and  points  of  view.  To  demonstrate  in  various 
parts  of  the  state  the  value  or  the  inefficiency  of 
various  new  theories  and  discoveries, — to  determine 
how  far  these  newer  ideas  are  ai^plicable  to  local  con- 
ditions. To  discover  new  truth  which  may  be  worthy 
of  record  in  bulletins :  this  is  usually  the  least  of  the 
results  that  follow  from  such  experiments  because  the 
experiments  are  not  under  perfect  control  or  continu- 
ously under  the  eye  of  a  trained  observer. 

"  The  general  plan  of  work  is  mutual  or  co-opera- 
tive— the  farmer  to  provide  land  and  labor  and  to  have 
the  crop,  the  expert  to  give  advice  and  supervision 
and,  so  far  as  possible,  to  inspect  the  work.  In  some 
cases  the  college  furnishes  seeds  and  other  materials. 
It  does  not  furnish  fertilizers.  The  benefit  of  the  ex- 
periment or  demonstration  is  expected  to  accrue 
mostly  to  the  person  on  whose  place  the  work  is  done. 
These  demonstrations  cover  a  wide  range  of  subjects, 
as  fertilizer  tests,  studies  of  soils  in  relation  to  special 
crops,   varieties   of   plants    for   particular   purposes, 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      419 


spraying,  injurious  insects,  diseases  of  plants,  feeding 
of  animals,  and  any  special  difficulties  that  arise 
among  the  farmers  in  any  part  of  the  state.  In  1904 
forty  demonstrations  and  experiments  were  arranged, 
in  seven  categories,  as  follows :  agronomy,  plant  selec- 
tion and  breeding,  horticulture,  entomology,  animai 
husbandry,  poultry  husbandry,  and  dairy  industry. 
Several  hundred  persons  are  engaging  in  these  co- 
operative efforts.  In  the  year  1903  the  number  of 
extension  experiments  and  demonstrations  in  charge 
of  this  college  was  approximately  as  follows : 

Field  crop  work about  300 

Horticultural  work 150 

Milk  tests 110 

Cheese  factories  inspected 50 

Poultry  work .  7 

Entomological  work 5 

Miscellaneous          ........  25 

*'  The  reading  courses  are  two — the  farmers'  and 
the  farmers'  wives'.  The  college  prepares  the  litera- 
ture that  the  farmers  read,  and  it  maintains  direct 
correspondence  with  the  readers.  The  reading  period 
covers  practically  the  winter  months.  The  number  of 
readers  enrolled  on  May  23,  1904,  was  as  follows : 

Farmers 5^130 

Farmers'  wives    ....  ...     6,416 

11,546 

'^  Lectures  and  Itinerant  '  Schools.'  Many  lectures 
are  given  by  members  of  the  staff"  before  reading- 
course  clubs,  farmers'  organizations,  civic  improve- 
ment societies,  and  other  meetings.  Formerly  '  schools 
of  agriculture  '  were  held  where  persons  desired  them. 
These  are  conventions  of  two  to  four  days'  duration, 
at  which  one  or  more  sessions  are  given  to  the  dis- 


420     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

cussion  of  a  particular  problem  associated  with  the 
agriculture  of  the  place.  So  far  as  possible  the  par- 
ticipants are  enrolled  as  students.  A  limited  number 
of  such  schools  may  be  held  in  the  future, 

"  Work  in  the  Schools.  The  object  of  the  nature- 
study  work  is  to  put  the  country  child  in  sympathy 
with  its  own  environment,  to  open  its  eyes  to  the 
attractiveness  of  the  country  and  to  make  it  con- 
tent to  live  therein.  The  nature-study  work  is  of 
the  following  categories:  Organization  of  junior 
naturalist  clubs  among  school  children  of  the  state. 
Each  club  receives  a  charter;  and  each  month  of 
the  school  year  a  Junior  Naturalist  Monthly  is  pub- 
lished, suggesting  what  work  may  be  taken  up,  the 
junior  gardener  movement  being  an  effort  to  inter- 
est children  in  the  actual  growing  of  plants  of  theit 
own.  In  connection  with  this  work  an  effort  is  made 
to  develop  exhibitions  at  the  state  and  county  fairs  of 
plants  grown  by  children.  This  year  an  effort  is 
making  to  interest  children  in  growing  alfalfa,  a  plant 
that  is  now  attracting  wide  attention  in  New  York 
State.  Up  to  the  present  writing  about  4,000  children 
have  been  supplied  with  alfalfa  seed.  Among  other 
objects  sought  have  been:  Improvement  of  school 
grounds,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  children  and 
teachers;  this  improving  consists  first  in  cleaning  the 
premises;  thereafter,  efforts  are  made  to  grade,  seed, 
and  plant  them;  interesting  the  managers  of  fairs  in 
the  work  of  children;  co-operation  has  been  asked 
of  all  the  county  fairs  in  bringing  the  gardening  work, 
nature-study  work,  and  other  school  work  before  the 
people;  home  nature-study  course  for  teachers,  be- 
ing a  correspondence  reading  and  study  course  for 
those  teachers  in  the  state  who  desire  to  fit  them- 
selves at  home  for  teaching  country-life  subjects. 
In  each  month  of  the  school-year  a  lesson  is  printed 


COLLEGE    OF    AGKICULTUllE 


Thomas  Forsyth  Hunt 
James  Edward  Kice 


Jay   Allan   Konsteel 
John   Lemuel  Stone 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      421 

for  use  in  this  correspondence  work.  Some  of 
these  persons  are  in  the  training  classes,  where,  as  a 
rule,  it  is  possible  to  do  some  of  the  best  work.  Meet- 
ing teachers  personally,  and  giving  lectures  and  dem- 
onstrations in  schools,  teachers'  conventions,  and  in- 
stitutes, so  far  as  time  and  means  permit.  It  is  now 
desired  to  co-operate  with  high  schools,  academies, 
normal  schools,  and  others,  for  the  purpose  of  intro- 
ducing definite  instruction  in  rural  and  agricultural 
subjects.  All  of  these  schools  have  been  appealed  to 
within  the  past  year. 

The  children  are  all  reorganized  every  year,  since 
teachers  change  and  children  enter  other  grades.  The 
numbers  of  children  and  teachers  reorganized  in  the 
present  school-year  up  to  May  23,  1904,  are  as  follows : 

Junior  naturalists 16,986 

Junior  gardeners 19,221 

Home  nature-study  students 1,983 

School  grounds  undergoing  improvement  (1903)    .  439 

'  *  Up  to  June,  1904,  there  had  been  read  in  the  pres- 
ent school-year  33,171  children's  letters. 

The  Experimenters'  League 

''  Closely  associated  with  the  extension  work  is  the 
Agricultural  Experimenters'  League  of  New  York, 
which  was  organized  at  Cornell  University  March  3, 
1903.  The  organization  is  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
on  co-operative  experiments  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  farm  husbandry ;  for  the  promotion  of  inter- 
course among  those  studying  farm  problems;  for  the 
advancement  of  agricultural  education;  and  for  the 
purpose  of  supporting  legislation  favorable  to  the  pro- 
motion of  these  objects.  The  League  was  organized 
with  a  charter  membership  of  32,  and  the  membership 
grew  during  the  year  to  89  members.    For  the  present 


422      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

year  up  to  May  23  the  membership  is  61,  and  new 
members  are  being  added  from  day  to  day. 

' '  The  first  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Cornell,  Jan- 
uary 8-9,  1904,  with  an  attendance  of  150-200.  The 
meeting  was  successful  beyond  expectations. 

"  This  year  experiments  are  being  conducted  along 
the  following  lines :  Agronomy,  22  experiments ;  plant 
selection  and  breeding,  3  experiments;  horticulture,  8 
experiments;  entomology,  4  experiments;  animal  hus- 
bandry, 3  experiments;  poultry  husbandry,  8  experi- 
ments ;  dairy  industry,  1  experiment. 

"  In  general  agriculture  Professor  Hunt  considers 
that  the  two  problems  standing  out  most  prominently 
are:  The  improvement  of  the  meadows  and  pastures 
of  the  state;  the  substitution  of  some  easily  digested 
food  of  proper  composition  to  take  the  place  of  the 
western  grains  and  of  by-products  now  purchased  so 
largely  by  the  New  York  farmer. 

''  In  the  epoch  just  closing  colleges  of  agriculture 
have  concerned  themselves  mostly  with  technical  farm- 
ing, largely  with  the  increasing  of  the  productiveness 
of  the  farm.  In  the  epoch  just  opening  great  emphasis 
is  also  to  be  laid  on  the  farm  home  and  on  the  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  ideals  of  the  family.  We  are  to 
reach  the  farmer  as  well  as  the  farm.  Certain  great 
public  questions  touch  the  farmer  very  closely:  these 
must  be  considered  in  the  College  of  Agriculture  at 
Cornell  University,  both  in  its  regular  academic 
courses  and  in  its  extension  work.  Some  of  these 
questions  are  farm  labor,  rural  organizations,  good 
roads,  means  of  communication  in  the  country,  sanita- 
tion, architecture  of  farm  buildings,  co-operation  with 
churches  and  societies  in  introducing  better  ideals  of 
farming  and  of  citizenship,  work  of  the  schools,  for- 
estation  policies,  literature  for  the  farm  home,  the 
aesthetic  appreciation  of  the  country,  and  means  of 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      423 

improving  roadsides  and  farm  properties.  The  col- 
lege stands  for  the  entire  rounded  life  of  the  farmer, 
not  for  his  crops  and  flocks  alone. ' ' 

It  is  often  asked  whether  agricultural  students 
return  to  the  farm.  From  the  leading  agricultural 
colleges  as  large  a  proportion  of  students  enter  occu- 
pations connected  with  agriculture  as  students  of  law 
enter  law  practice  or  students  of  medical  colleges 
enter  medicine.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  agricultural 
colleges  and  experiment  stations,  and  latterly  of  the 
National  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  made  great 
demands  for  men  trained  in  these  colleges  to  enter  pro- 
fessional work.  So  far'as  the  Cornell  College  of  Agri- 
culture is  concerned,  the  following  statement  from  the 
Cornell  Countryman,  June,  1904,  will  answer  many 
questions : 

' '  Members  of  the  Countryman  board  have  just  com- 
pleted a  tabulation  of  the  present  occupations  of  the 
former  students.  Quite  a  large  number  have  not  yet 
been  heard  from.  The  percentages  are  based  on  the 
information  thus  far  received. 

"  Of  the  total  number  of  living  former  students  who 
are  not  in  school  and  whose  occupations  are  known, 
seventy-one  per  cent,  are  in  some  form  of  farm  work, 
twenty  per  cent,  are  in  some  form  of  agricultural  edu- 
cation work ;  or  a  total  of  ninety-one  per  cent,  who  are 
either  farming,  or  pursuing  some  line  of  work  directly 
allied  to  agriculture.  Certainly  the  Cornell  College 
of  Agriculture  does  not  educate  away  from  the  farm. 
It  is  very  doubtful  whether  any  other  professional  or 
technical  colleges  could  show  as  large  a  percentage  of 
their  graduates  who  are  continuing  in  the  profession 
for  which  they  prepared." 


424     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 


OCCUPATIONS    OF    FORMER    STUDENTS    OF    THE    COLLEGE    OF 
AGRICULTURE. 


a  S 

>. 

S£ 

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< 
m 

< 

too 

DO -2 

II 

la 

"3 
o 
H 

Agricultural  college  and  ex- 

periment station  work  .     . 

8 

26 

8 

53 

4 

15 

6 

2 

122 

U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 

ture      

2 

8 

2 

1 

2 



— 



15 

Farmers,  nurserymen,  farm 

managers,  etc 

— 

2 

4 

85 

24 

45 

46 

176 

332 

Creameries,  cheese  factories, 

etc 

— 

— 

— 

— 

1 

3 

156 

3 

163 

Editors 

1 

1 

1 

2 



2 



— 

7 

Landscape  architects  .     .     . 

— 

— 

— 

9 

— 

— 

— 

— 

9 

Physicians 

— 

— 

— 

5 

7 

3 

1 

— 

16 

Students      





— 

5 

78 

68 

4 

5 

160 

Miscellaneous 

— 

— 

— 

11 

13 

11 

5 

6 

46 

Died 

— 

1 

1 

5 

6 

7 

5 

4 

29 

Occupation  unclassified   .    . 

— 

— 

3 

5 

168 

161 

348 

317 

1002 

Total 

11 

38 

19 

131 

303 

315 

571 

513 

1901 

The  agricultural  constituency  is  so  large  that  there 
is  every  reason  for  believing  that  colleges  of  agricul- 
ture are  destined  to  make  substantial  growth.  These 
colleges  are  now  learning  how  to  teach  the  subject. 
The  experimental  era  is  passing.  The  present  year 
(1904-05)  has  seen  an  increase  of  nearly  forty  per  cent, 
in  the  students  in  the  College  of  Agriculture  of  Cornell 
University,  and  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  in  the 
number  of  post-graduates. 

The  efficiency  of  any  institution  is  measured  by  the 
character  of  the  men  that  control  it.  In  this  regard 
the  Cornell  College  of  Agriculture  is  unusually  strong. 
Its  staff  includes  men  of  national  reputation. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     425 


STAFF  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE. 
1894-95. 

FACULTY. 

Jacob  Gould  Schurman,  A.  M.,  D.  Sc,  LL.  D.,  President  of  the 
University. 

Liberty  Hyde  Bailey,  M.  S.,  Director  of  the  College  of  Agricul- 
ture, Dean  of  the  Faculty,  and  Professor  of  Rural  Economy. 

George  Chapman  Caldwell,  B.  S.,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry, 
Emeritus. 

Isaac  Phillips  Roberts,  M.  Agr.,  Professor  of  Agriculture,  Emer- 
itus. 

John  Henry  Comstock,  B.  S.,  Professor  of  Entomology  and  Gen- 
eral Invertebrate  Zoology. 

Henry  Hiram  Wing,  M.  S.  in  Agr.,  Professor  of  Animal  Husbandry. 

John  Craig,  M.  S.  in  Agr.,  Professor  of  Horticulture. 

Thomas  Forsyth  Hunt,  M.  S.,  D.  Agr.,  Professor  of  Agronomy 
and  Manager  of  the  University  Farms. 

Raymond  Allen  Pearson,  M.  S.  in  Agr.,  Professor  of  Dairy  In- 
dustry. 

Jay  Allan  Bonsteel,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Soil  Investigation  (de- 
tailed from  Bureau  of  Soils,  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture). 

Mark  Vernon  Slingerland,  B.  S.  in  Agr.,  Assistant  Professor  of 
Economic  Entomology. 

George  Walter  Cavanaugh,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry in  its  Relations  with  Agriculture. 

John  Lemuel  Stone,  B.  Agr.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Agronomy. 

Stevenson  Whitcomb  Fletcher,  Ph.  D.,  Assistant  Professor  of 
Extension  Teaching  in  Agriculture. 

James  Edward  Rice,  B.  S.  in  Agr.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Poultry 
Husbandry. 

George  Nieman  Lauman,  B.  S.  A.,  Instructor  in  Rural  Economy 
and  Secretary  to  the  Faculty  of  the  College  of  Agriculture. 

Alexander    Dyer    MacGillivray,  Ph.  D.,  Instructor  in  Ento- 
mology. 
Wilijam  Albert  Riley,  Ph.  D.,  Instructor  in  Entomology. 
John  Washington  Gilmore,  B.  S.  A.,  Instructor  in  Agronomy  and 

Superintendent  of  the  Farms. 
Robert  S.  Northrop,  B.  S.,  Instructor  in  Horticulture. 

OTHER  OFFICERS  OP  INSTRUCTION  AND  ADMINISTRATION. 

Hugh  Charles  Troy,  B.  S.  in  Agr.,  Assistant  in  Dairy  Laboratory. 
Walter  Wager  Hall,  Assistant  in  Cheese-Making. 


426      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Webster  Everett  Griffith,  Assistant  in  Butter-Making. 

John  Walton  Spencer,  Supervisor  in  Extension  Department, 

Anna  Botsford  Comstock,  B.  S.,  Lecturer  in  Nature-Study. 

Alice  Gertrude  McCloskey,  Assistant  in  Extension  Department. 

Martha  Van  Rensselaer,  Supervisor  Farmers'  Wives'  Reading 
Course. 

Herbert  Hice  Whetzel,  A.  B.,  Assistant  in  Plant  Pathology  in 
the  Extension  Department. 

Samuel  Eraser,  Assistant  Agronomist. 

James  Adrian  Bizzell,  Ph.,  D.,  Assistant  Chemist  to  the  Experi- 
ment Station. 

John  Main  Trueman,  B.  S.  in  Agr.,  Assistant  in  Animal  Husbandry 
and  Dairy  Industry. 

Warren  H,  Manning,  Lecturer  in  Outdoor  Ai't. 

Bryant  Fleming,  B.  S.  A.,  Lecturer  in  Outdoor  Art. 

G.  Arthur  Bell,  A.  F.  A,  Scholtzhauer,  W.  F.  Burlingame, 
Assistants  in  Winter  Dairy  School  for  1904. 

George  Walter  Tailby,  Farm  Foreman. 

Charles  Edward  Hunn,  Gardener. 


Clarence  Augustine  Martin,  Assistant  Professor  of  Architecture 
(giving  instruction  in  Farm  Home  Course). 

Henry  Neely  Ogden,  C.  E.  ,  Assistant  Professor  of  Civil  Engineer- 
ing (giving  instruction  in  Farm  Home  Course). 

Robert  G.  Allen,  Section  Director  Weather  Bureau  (giving  instruc- 
tion in  Agricultural  Meteorology). 

1  the  agricultural  college  and  station  council. 

Jacob  Gould  Schurman,  President  of  the  University, 
Franklin  C.  Cornell,  Trustee  of  the  University. 
Liberty  H.  Bailey,  Director  of  the  College. 
Emmons  L.  Williams,  Treasurer  of  the  University, 
John  H.  Comstock,  Professor  of  Entomology. 
Thomas  F.  Hunt,  Professor  of  Agronomy. 

Other  officers  of  instruction  in  the  several  faculties  of  the  univer- 
sity give  instruction  in  the  fundamental  branches  preparatory  to 
the  agricultural  electives. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

BENEFACTORS  ^ 

Henry  W.  Sage 

HENRY  W.  SAGE  was  born  in  Middletown, 
Conn.,  January  31,  1814.  He  was  a  de- 
scendant of  David  Sage,  a  native  of  Wales, 
who  settled  in  Middletown  as  early  as 
1652.  His  father,  Charles  Sage,  married  Miss  Sally 
"Williams,  a  sister  of  the  Hon.  J.  B.  Williams  of  Ithaca. 
Henry  W.  Sage  was  the  eldest  child.  His  early  boy- 
hood was  passed  in  Bristol,  Conn.,  until  his  father 
moved  westward  in  1827,  with  the  early  tide  of  emigra- 
tion, and  settled  in  Ithaca.  In  early  years  he  learned 
the  lesson  which  so  many  eminent  Americans  have  had 
to  acquire — that  of  self-support  and  self-dependence. 
This  discipline  of  sacrifice  and  of  arduous  toil  was  one 
of  his  earliest  acquisitions.  It  had  been  the  ardent  wish 
of  the  boy  to  enter  Yale  College,  but  the  removal  of  the 
family  to  this  state  interrupted  the  plan.  Even  in 
Ithaca  his  desire  for  a  profession  did  not  forsake  him, 
and  he  began  the  study  of  medicine,  which,  however,  he 
was  forced  by  ill-health  to  abandon,  and  in  the  year 
1832  he  entered  the  employ  of  his  uncles,  Williams  & 
Brothers,  men  of  great  energy  and  probity,  who  were 
merchants  and  large  shipping  agents,  owning  lines  of 
transportation  which  traversed  the  lakes  of  Central 
New  York,  connecting,  by  means  of  the  Erie  Canal  and 

'  No  attempt  at  completeness  has  been  made  in  this  chapter,  the  biograph- 
ical sketches  being  confined  to  a  number  of  the  principal  benefactors  of  the 
university.  A  previous  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  life  of  the  founder,  Ezra 
Cornell.     A  detailed  list  of  benefactions  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

427 


428     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

the  Hudson  River,  with  the  trade  of  the  metropolis. 
Mr.  Sage's  energy  and  business  sagacity  were  soon 
manifested,  and  his  enterprise  enlarged  the  sphere  of 
his  activity. 

Five  years  later  he  became  proprietor  of  the  business. 
He  early  foresaw  the  rising  importance  of  the  West,  and 
became  interested  in  the  vast  forests  of  Canada  and  of 
Michigan.  In  1854  he  purchased  a  large  tract  of  timber 
land  around  Lake  Simcoe,  in  Canada,  where  he  manu- 
factured lumber  on  a  large  scale.  He  engaged,  soon 
after,  in  business  with  John  McGraw,  and  erected  in 
Winona,  Mich.,  a  manufactory  which,  at  that  time,  was 
regarded  as  the  largest  in  the  world.  When  compara- 
tively a  young  man,  during  the  memorable  campaign 
of  1847,  he  was  elected  upon  the  Whig  ticket  to  the 
legislature.  In  1857  he  removed  to  Brooklyn,  where 
he  resided  until  1880.  Here  his  great  ability  and, 
above  all,  the  marked  force  of  his  character,  made  him 
at  once  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens.  He  was 
the  friend  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  and  the 
great  preacher,  in  all  his  difficulties,  rested  upon  no 
heart  with  more  intimate  and  tender  affection  than 
upon  that  of  his  parishioner,  Henry  W.  Sage. 

In  1870  Mr.  Sage  was  elected  trustee  of  the  univer- 
sity, and  since  1875  he  was  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  As  a  youth  he  wandered  over  the  hills  of 
this,  his  early  home,  and  rejoined  in  the  beautiful  views 
of  lake  and  valley ;  and  he  saw  in  the  new  university  an 
opportunity  to  realize  a  purpose,  which  he  had  deeply 
cherished,  to  promote  the  higher  education  of  women. 
Even  when  residing  at  a  distance  he  had  given  gener- 
ously the  endowment  which  formed  the  Sage  foundation 
for  the  education  of  women  and  erected  the  Sage 
Chapel,  which  his  son.  Dean  Sage,  in  noble  enthusiasm 
for  his  father's  purpose,  endowed,  thus  securing  to  the 
university  the  valuable  courses  of  sermons  which  have 


HENRY  Vv\  SAGE 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      429 

been  delivered  in  the  university  chapel,  and  which  will 
constitute  a  permanent  fund  for  the  promotion  of  the 
religious  and  moral  life  of  the  university.  It  is  evident 
from  this  that  Mr.  Sage  was  a  man  of  lofty  personal 
faith,  who  had  the  courage  to  follow  his  convictions 
wherever  they  led.  His  faith  in  the  education  of  wo- 
man, and  in  the  future  before  her,  was  a  part  of  his 
being,  in  advance  of  the  leading  thinkers  of  this  coun- 
try. Even  amid  the  exacting  demands  of  business  he 
was  an  earnest  student,  and  nights  of  laborious  reading 
followed  days  of  exhausting  work.  He  was  interested 
in  modern  speculation,  and  in  the  bearing  of  scientific 
truth  upon  the  profound  questions  of  human  life  and 
destiny.  He  read  also  upon  economical  questions.  Lit- 
erature, science,  and  art  always  interested  him.  Work 
difficult  for  one  less  strong  always  appeared  easy  for 
him.  He  never  seemed  weary  when  there  was  work  to 
be  done;  and  he  turned  with  apparently  fresh  strength 
to  any  new  subject  of  interest  demanding  his  attention. 
He  was  only  weary  in  case  of  enforced  rest.  Prompt- 
ness and  almost  inexhaustible  energy  characterized  his 
life. 

In  1880  Mr.  Sage  removed  to  Ithaca,  and  from  this 
time  his  life  was  closely  identified  with  the  history  of 
the  university.  However  great  his  donations,  his  noble 
personality  was  his  greatest  gift  to  the  life  of  the  uni- 
versity. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  services  extend- 
ing over  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  made  him,  to  all 
who  review  this  later  period,  the  central  figure  in  its 
history.  Mr.  Cornell's  magnificent  plan,  conceived  in 
so  large  a  spirit  of  personal  sacrifice,  and  maintained 
with  so  much  tenacity,  had  not  as  yet  been  realized. 
Indeed,  a  scheme  which  had  involved  so  much  labor,  and 
which  had  been  pursued  for  fifteen  years  with  so  much 
devotion,  was  on  the  point  of  failure  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Cornell.    The  university  had  retained  the  national 


430     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

lands,  and  paid  every  year  an  enormous  sum,  thus  im- 
posing a  tax  upon  its  income  beyond  what  it  was  in  its 
power  to  sustain.  This  struggle  at  last  seemed  hopeless 
to  the  trustees,  who  had  been  faithful  so  long.  An  offer 
came  to  dispose  of  the  balance  of  the  western  lands  in 
Wisconsin,  consisting  of  about  500,000  acres,  for  $1,- 
250,000.  The  syndicate,  which  proposed  to  make  this 
purchase,  was  unable  to  make  the  initial  payment,  and 
it  was  even  proposed  to  sell  the  vast  interest  of  the  uni- 
versity for  one  million  dollars.  At  this  time  Mr.  Sage 's 
influence  was  thrown  decisively  into  the  scale  to  pre- 
serve the  lands.  He  maintained  that  their  irmnediate 
value  was  at  least  three  million  dollars,  and  that,  by 
retaining  possession  of  them,  and  by  judicious  dis- 
posal, even  a  larger  sum  might  be  realized.  This  deci- 
sive action  in  a  decisive  moment  saved  the  future  of  the 
university,  rescued  it  from  perpetual  limitation  in  its 
means  and  scope,  and  made  it  possible  for  it  to  become 
one  of  the  representative  universities  of  the  land.  The 
results  of  this  policy  were  embodied  in  a  report  of  the 
land  committee,  presented  to  the  executive  committee 
on  October  30,  1889. 

'  *  During  the  year,  a  sale  of  timber  land,  amounting 
to  $168,203,  was  reported.  The  previous  sales  up  to 
August  1,  1888,  had  realized  $4,920,747.75.  One  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  thousand,  six  hundred  and  sixty-one 
acres  were  still  unsold,  whose  estimated  value  was 
$1,267,323.86,  which,  added  to  the  previous  sales,  made 
a  total  of  $6,128,071,61."  The  committee  added: 
' '  Whatever  results  may  be  the  outcome  of  present  com- 
plications, the  university  is  now  established  upon  an  en- 
during basis.  We  cannot  know  how  almost  wholly  we 
have  been  indebted  to  the  wisdom  and  statesmanship  of 
Ezra  Cornel],  in  his  arrangements  with  the  state,  to  let 
him  sell  512,000  acres  of  land,  without  admiration  and 
gratitude  for  the  breadth  and  solidity  of  the  financial 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      431 


basis  he  laid  for  us.  His  undertaking  was  to  carry  the 
land  twenty  years,  from  August  4,  1866,  to  August  4, 
1886,  and  within  that  time  to  sell  and  return  all  pro- 
ceeds, less  his  actual  expenses,  to  the  treasurer  of  the 
state.  He  hoped  at  that  time  to  create  about  two  and 
one-quarter  millions  for  the  benefit  of  the  university. 
He  died  in  1874,  after  expending  $576,953  of  his  own 
cash  to  carry  the  land;  after  which  it  was  carried 
by  the  university  to  June,  1881— in  all  nearly  fifteen 
years,  at  a  further  cost  of  $418,300,  making,  in  all,  a 
cost  of  $995,253,  and  the  total  outcome  to  that  date  was 
less  by  $3,301.69  than  the  actual  cost  of  carrying  it.  It 
was  a  most  discouraging  labor,  and  seemed  for  a  time 
to  be  utterly  hopeless.  The  university  was  at  that  time 
very  poor.  Professors  were  paid  $2,000  per  year,  and 
the  trustees  could  not  pay  even  these  beggarly  sal- 
aries without  creating  a  large  debt.  At  one  time  $155,- 
000  of  such  debt  was  paid  from  their  pockets.  Nearly 
all  the  available  funds  were  in  the  land  grant.  Had 
any  offered  a  million  for  it  at  that  time,  a  majority  vote 
of  the  trustees  would  probably  have  sold  it.  We  had 
by  actual  count  three  hundred  and  twenty  students. 
The  prospect  ahead  was  dark  enough,  but  our  dark 
days  were  nearly  over.  In  August,  1881,  we  sold  $480,- 
000  worth  of  land  at  one  sale,  and  by  August  1,  1886^ 
three  days  before  the  twenty  j^ears  expired — our  total 
sales  were  $3,881,764.19,  far  in  excess  of  Mr.  Cornell's 
wildest  dream;  and  to  August  1,  1889,  the  total  sales, 
added  to  the  value  of  land  yet  unsold,  are  $6,188,071.61. 
We  have  had  since  August,  1881,  $3,928,796.44  in  solid 
cash,  or  its  equivalent  in  productive  securities,  poured 
into  our  treasury.  All  this  in  eight  years !  What  won- 
der that  we  have  felt  the  impulse  of  such  prosperity, 
that  we  have  had  power  to  increase  the  pay  of  our  pro- 
fessors as  well  as  their  numbers,  and  ability  to  build 
houses,  to  increase  equipments,  and  thus,  by  wise  use  of 


432     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

all,  and  by  deserving  it,  to  command  public  patronage? 
We  have  secured  large  gifts  from  others  in  buildings 
and  in  endowments ;  but  to  whom,  above  all  others,  do 
we  owe  the  largest  debt  of  love  and  gratitude  for  our 
present  and  prospective  prosperity?  To  Ezra  Cornell, 
now  sleeping  peacefully  in  yonder  chapel.  To  his  pur- 
pose of  faith  and  hope,  and,  under  God,  to  the  officers 
and  faculty  of  the  university,  working  to  establish  what 
he  so  grandly  founded. ' '  This  is  an  incomparable  exhi- 
bition of  sagacity  and  lofty  devotion  to  the  university ; 
and  above  the  material  advantage,  is  that  most  beauti- 
ful and  imperishable  element  which  glorifies  human  life 
— the  love,  the  sacrifice,  the  patient  devotion  of  the 
benefactors — an  invisible  but  immortal  gift  to  the  uni- 
versity. 

Mr.  Sage's  personal  gifts  showed  a  wise  purpose  to 
aid  the  university  when  gifts  were  most  needed  and 
would  serve  it  best.  In  addition  to  the  Sage  College, 
the  Sage  Chapel,  and  the  endowment  of  the  Sage  School 
of  Philosophy,  the  latter  at  an  expense  of  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars,  Mr.  Sage  gave  for  the 
library  and  its  endowment,  $560,000,  besides  the  cost  of 
a  residence  upon  the  university  grounds  for  the  incum- 
bent of  the  chair  of  philosophy,  and  a  gift  of  $8,000  for 
the  Archaeological  Museum. 

Mr.  Sage  was  not  simply  a  man  of  affairs,  demanding 
as  they  do  business  gifts  of  a  high  order.  He  did  not 
work  for  mere  acquisition,  although  valuing  independ- 
ence and  the  means  of  enlarged  activity  which  wealth 
affords.  There  was  nothing  in  his  life  to  withdraw  him 
from  sympathy  with  men,  but  everything  to  give  him  an 
interest  in  all  the  struggles  which  form  character  and 
constitute  manhood.  One  of  his  guiding  thoughts  was 
not  to  take  from  young  men  the  incentive  to  labor,  but 
through  labor,  whether  of  the  hands  or  of  the  head,  to 
develop  their  powers.    With  him  work  was  honorable, 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      433 

essential  to  manhood,  and  he  had  a  vigorous  scorn  of 
selfish  indulgence.  He  would  say:  '^  Let  every  young 
man  take  life  as  he  finds  it,  and  make  the  most  of  it," 
and  his  own  example  showed  that  the  field  of  such  a  one 
would  expand  with  his  proved  powers.  One  principle 
guided  his  personal  life — adherence  to  justice  and 
honor.  That  wretched  subterfuge,  by  which  men  sub- 
stitute mere  expediency  for  justice  and  honor,  he  was 
incapable  of.  Mere  temporizing  when  a  matter  of  prin- 
ciple was  involved,  to  secure  by  shift  or  device  some 
substitute  for  just  and  generous  action,  was  foreign  to 
his  nature.  The  opportunity  of  service  always  im- 
posed an  imperative  claim  upon  him.  He  had  faith  in 
the  right,  which  would  always  prove  to  have  been  the 
wisest  in  the  end.  He  placed  before  himself  as  the 
crowning  purpose  of  his  life  to  contribute  to  the  growth 
of  this  university.  No  one  grasped  its  future  with  a 
clearer  comprehension  of  its  needs  than  he.  The  debt 
of  the  university  to  him  cannot  be  estimated,  and  was 
not  embraced  in  his  munificent  gifts.  His  foresight  in 
the  wise  administration  of  the  university  lands,  in 
which  his  advice  was  fortunately  controlling,  had  made 
it  possible  to  realize  the  large  returns  which  formed  a 
part  of  Mr.  Cornell's  dream.  Mr.  Sage  had  that  grasp 
of  principles  which  made  his  judgment  instantaneous 
and  almost  unerring.  His  friendship  was  freely  ac- 
corded to  all  members  of  the  university,  and  his  gener- 
ous recognition  and  interest  will  be  inseparably  asso- 
ciated with  his  memory.  His  services  have  not  been 
surpassed  in  the  long  line  of  illustrious  benefactors. 

On  January  31,  1894,  the  university  celebrated  the 
eightieth  birthday  of  Mr.  Sage.  Upon  this  day  the 
Museum  of  Classical  Archaeology,  Mr.  Sage's  latest  gift 
to  the  university,  was  dedicated.  The  semi-annual 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at  this  time, 
and  most  of  the  members  were  present.    The  trustees 


434     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

and  faculty  met  in  Mr.  Sage's  house  to  express  tlieir 
gratitude,  and  extend  their  congratulations  upon  the 
occasion.  The  celebration  was  not  confined  to  the  uni- 
versity. Mr.  Sage's  benefactions  had  been  recognized 
as  a  gift  to  the  nation,  and  the  most  eminent  of  the  land 
joined  in  expressing  their  recognition  of  his  distin- 
guished services  to  the  state.  President  Cleveland 
wrote  from  the  White  House : ' '  As  a  friend  of  CornelL 
deeply  interested  in  all  that  relates  to  its  history  and 
future  prosperity,  I  desire  to  thank  you  for  your  long 
devotion  to  her  welfare,  and  for  the  aid  you  have  thus 
rendered  to  practical  and  useful  education.  I  am  sure 
that  the  testimonial  which  will  assure  you  that  your 
worth  and  generous  work  is  appreciated,  will  be  accom- 
panied by  the  sincere  wish  of  many  hearts :  that  you 
may  be  long  spared  to  enjoy  the  comfort  and  satisfac- 
tion which  attend  generous  deeds. ' '  Governor  Roswell 
P.  Flower  telegraphed  his  regret  at  his  inability  to  be 
present,  and  said :  ' '  Cornell  has  been  fortunate  in  hav- 
ing interested  in  her  welfare  one  whose  gifts  have  made 
him  one  of  the  most  generous  patrons  of  education  in 
America,  and  whose  sound  advice  and  constant  watch- 
fulness have  also  been  invaluable  in  guiding  the  prog- 
ress of  this  powerful  institution.  Few  lives  of  four- 
score years  have  been  so  busy  in  good  works  as  that 
of  Henry  W.  Sage,  and  not  only  Cornell,  but  the  state 
of  New  York,  must  feel  proud  that  such  a  man  has  lived 
among  us  and  has  devoted  so  generously  his  wealth 
and  time  to  a  noble  purpose.  The  monuments  which 
his  love  and  munificence  have  built  at  Cornell  will  per- 
petuate his  honored  name  forever."  An  address, 
written  by  Professor  Charles  Mellen  Tyler,  was  also 
presented  from  the  faculty,  beautifully  engrossed  and 
signed  by  every  member,  expressing  their  personal 
gratitude  to  Mr.  Sage,  not  simply  as  an  official  with 
whom  they  had  been  related,  but  as  a  friend  to  whom 


JOHN  Mt<;iL\W 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY     435 

they  felt  a  personal  indebtedness.  Another  address 
was  presented  from  members  of  the  senior  class,  ex- 
pressing the  gratitude  and  affection  of  the  entire  stu- 
dent-body for  devoted  services,  invaluable  counsel,  and 
generous  benefactions.  In  behalf  of  the  trustees  the 
Hon.  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  in  a  few  simple  but  deeply 
felt  words,  recalling  the  events  of  the  twenty-five  years 
in  which  he  had  been  connected  with  the  board,  pre- 
sented to  Mr.  Sage,  as  a  gift  from  the  former  and 
present  trustees,  a  vase  of  solid  silver. 

Mr.  Sage  served  as  trustee  from  1870  to  his  death,  on 
September  18,  1897,  and  as  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  from  1874. 

John  McGraiv 

John  McGraw,  to  whose  generosity  the  university 
owes  the  noble  building  which  bears  his  name,  was 
born  in  Dryden,  N.  Y.,  May  5,  1815,  where  he  resided 
until  1848.  He  became  early  interested  in  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  lumber,  and  later  in  the  purchase 
of  large  forests  in  Michigan.  He  resided  in  various 
parts  of  the  state,  his  longest  residence,  until  his  re- 
moval to  Ithaca,  being  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York, 
where  his  large  business  centered. 

He  was  chosen  a  trustee  of  the  university  at  its  open- 
ing. His  interest  in  it  soon  led  him  to  erect  a  building 
for  the  library  and  the  scientific  collections,  which  was 
completed  in  1871.  His  purposes  to  contribute  to  the 
development  of  the  university  were  not  confined  to  this 
single  gift,  munificent  as  it  was.  He  left  to  his  only 
daughter  the  execution  of  his  beneficence.  Mr.  Mc- 
Graw's  residence  at  Ithaca  brought  him  into  close  con- 
nection with  the  business  interests  of  the  university, 
and  his  services  in  the  first  years  of  its  history  were 
of  great  value.     He  died  in  Ithaca,  May  4,  1877.    Hon. 


436     COENELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Henry  W.  Sage,  a  former  business  associate,  thus 
wrote  of  Mr.  McGraw : 

''  Among  the  most  active  and  useful  forces  of  a 
nation's  life  is  a  large  class  of  the  higher  ranges  of 
business  men — those  who  originate  the  enterprises  of 
the  period,  and  direct  and  control  the  industries  per- 
taining to  them.  From  these  result  a  nation's  pros- 
perity and  the  foundation  of  its  growth  in  wealth,  com- 
merce, and  the  elevation  and  refinement  which  accom- 
pany them.  Eminent  among  this  class  of  men  was  Mr. 
McGraw.  He  dealt  with  principles  and  ideas,  boldly 
grasping  the  outlines  of  important  projects  which 
commanded  his  attention,  and  he  followed  up  with  all 
the  force  of  his  character  any  enterprise  once  entered 
upon,  when  his  judgment  was  once  convinced  of  its 
soundness  and  utility.  His  clear,  practical  head  was 
always  a  power  in  the  management  of  the  interests  of 
the  university.  He  was  upright,  prompt,  true,  sensi- 
tive to  the  nicest  shade  of  honor.  His  active,  practical 
life  was  a  living  exponent  of  that  within,  which 
abounded  with  faith,  hope,  courage,  fidelity — the  qual- 
ities which  make  up  and  stamp  the  noble  man. ' ' 

Mr.  McGraw  was  one  of  the  original  trustees  under 
the  charter,  and  served  as  such  from  1865  to  1877.  He 
donated  McGraw  Hall  to  the  university  in  1870. 

Goldivin  Smith 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith,  whose  services  to  the  uni- 
versity and  numerous  gifts  have  been  a  contribution 
to  its  reputation  and  its  wealth,  was  born  in  Reading, 
England,  August  13,  1823.  He  was  educated  at  Eton, 
and  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his  bach- 
elor's degree  in  1845.  He  was  an  elegant  classical 
scholar,  winning  scholarships  and  prizes  for  English 
and  Latin  essays,  and  for  Latin  verse.    He  was  elected 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      437 


a  fellow  and  tutor  of  University  College,  where  he 
taught  for  several  years,  and  also  a  fellow  of  Oriel 
College.  He  was  called  to  the  bar  in  Lincoln's  Inn  in 
1847,  but  never  practiced.  He  was  secretary  of  two 
commissions  to  examine  into  the  government,  prop- 
erty, and  studies  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  His 
efforts  in  behalf  of  university  reform  exerted  great 
influence  in  infusing  new  methods  and  life  into 
wealthy,  antiquated  foundations.  He  was  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Commission  of  Education  of  England, 
and,  from  1858  to  1866,  regius  professor  of  history  in 
the  university. 

Mr.  Smith  was  always  a  pronounced  liberal  in  poli- 
tics. No  possible  favor  could  induce  him  to  sacrifice 
his  opposition  to  aristocratic  and  irresponsible  gov- 
ernment for  popularity  or  temporary  advantage.  He 
can  as  little  brook  empty  ritualism  in  religion  as  an 
exclusive  privileged  class  in  authority.  His  interest 
in  America  and  its  struggle  for  freedom  caused  him 
to  visit  this  country  in  1864.  As  a  steadfast  friend  of 
the  Union  and  of  republican  institutions,  his  services 
to  our  government  in  dark  days  were  at  once  recog- 
nized. He  was  welcomed  by  President  Lincoln  and 
our  most  prominent  statesmen  in  Washington,  and  by 
scholars  everywhere.  Even  in  his  enthusiastic  recep- 
tion, he  was  ready  to  peril  the  favor  of  his  new-found 
friends  rather  than  abandon  his  strong  sense  of  justice, 
as  was  shown  by  his  public  opposition  to  current  politi- 
cal discussion  at  that  time. 

At  the  opening  of  the  university  in  1868,  Mr.  Smith 
became  professor  of  English  history.  Numerous  stu- 
dents were  attracted  by  his  name,  and  his  classes  were 
thronged.  Recognizing  the  inadequate  equipment  of 
the  library  for  historical  study,  he  sent  for  his  own 
valuable  library,  containing  the  rare  accumulations  of 
a  lifetime,  and  presented  it  to  the  university.     There 


438     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

were  numerous  hardships  to  the  Oxford  scholar  in  an 
inland  village  of  a  new  country,  in  the  crude  condition 
of  the  young  university.  He  wrote  often  for  the  col- 
lege papers,  gave  receptions  to  his  classes,  and  sought 
in  every  way  to  incite  a  cordial  feeling  among  his  stu- 
dents. Privately  he  ascertained  the  wants  of  those 
who  were  self-supporting,  and  often  ministered  to 
them  by  gifts  of  books.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any 
university  in  England  or  America  offered  at  that  time 
a  course  of  lectures  on  English  history  equal  to  those 
delivered  here. 

The  residence  of  Mr.  Smith's  family  friends  in 
Toronto  took  him,  after  a  few  years,  to  that  city,  where 
he  married  and  now  resides.  For  many  years  he  re- 
turned annually  upon  visits,  and  the  students  had  op- 
portunity to  hear  one  or  more  of  his  graphic  and  philo- 
sophical lectures  upon  some  theme  of  current  political 
interest.  His  attachment  to  the  university  was  shown 
by  constant  gifts  of  works  in  history  and  literature  to 
the  library. 

Professor  Smith's  writings  cover  a  vast  variety  of 
subjects  besides  histor}^  He  has  defended  religion 
against  the  deceptive  views  of  Mansel  in  his  Bampton 
lectures,  and  discussed  in  reviews  nearly  all  the  promi- 
nent questions  which  have  agitated  English  and  colo- 
nial politics  in  the  last  thirty  years.  Literature  has 
been  indebted  to  him  in  many  ways,  most  recently  by 
a  life  of  Cowper.  No  living  English  writer  sur^^asses 
him  in  clear,  incisive  style,  joined  with  graphic  descrip- 
tion and  brilliant  generalizations. 

His  reputation  has  received  wide  recognition  in  sev- 
eral volumes  which  he  has  published  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, especially:  Canada  and  the  Canadian  Question 
(1891) ;  Loyalty,  Aristocracy,  and  Jingoism  (1891) ; 
The  United  States:  An  Outline  of  Political  History, 
1492-1871  (1893)— a  brilliant  sketch  of  American  his- 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      439 


tory;  Essays  on  Questions  of  the  Day,  Political  and 
Social  (1894) ;  A  Trip  to  England  (1892) ;  Oxford  and 
Her  Colleges  (1894);  Bay  Leaves:  Translations  from 
the  Latin  Poets  (1894) ;  Specimens  of  Greek  Tragedy 
(1894) ;  Guesses  at  the  Riddle  of  Existence  (1896) ; 
The  United  Kingdom  (1899) ;  Shakespeare,  the  Man 
(1900) ;  Commonwealth  or  Empire  (1902) ;  In  the 
Court  of  History  (1902) ;  The  Founder  of  Christianity 
(1903),  etc. 

Professor  Smith  retains  his  old  interest  in  the  uni- 
versity, and  every  year  his  visits  are  anticipated  with 
the  generous  enthusiasm  of  the  student  world.  Many 
chapters  in  his  books  are  recognized  as  more  elaborate 
discussions  of  lectures,  or  informal  talks  which  have 
been  given  before  the  students  of  the  university.  In- 
vitations to  return  to  England  to  assume  the  headship 
of  University  College,  and  offers  of  other  high  univer- 
sity positions,  have  been  alike  declined  for  his  home  in 
his  adopted  country.  Even  a  seat  in  i>arliament  has 
offered  no  attraction  to  him. 

Politically,  he  has  supported  with  great  vigor  the 
liberal-union  cause  in  England,  and  opposed  an  inde- 
pendent government  for  Ireland.  He  has  also  been 
active  in  advocating  closer  commercial  relations  with 
Canada,  which  has  had  great  influence  upon  public 
sentiment  in  that  country.  He  regards  intimate  politi- 
cal relations  in  the  future  as  the  manifest  destiny,  and 
equally  for  the  interest  of  both  countries. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Goldwin  Smith  Hall,  named 
in  his  honor,  was  laid  in  1904. 

Dean  Sage 

Dean  Sage,  elder  son  of  Henry  W.  Sage,  was  born 
in  Ithaca,  June  6, 1841.  He  was  educated  privately  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Walker,  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 


440     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

versity  of  Oxford,  and  also  at  the  Albany  Law  School, 
where  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws 
(1861).  Becoming  a  partner  of  his  father  in  the  large 
business  of  the  latter,  he  took  up  his  residence  in 
Albany. 

Mr.  Sage  was  an  ardent  lover  of  nature,  and  an  en- 
thusiastic sportsman.  He  enjoyed  the  free  life  of  the 
open  air  and  had  a  keen  interest  in  forest  and  stream. 
He  was  an  enthusiastic  fisherman,  spending  a  portion 
of  every  summer  in  salmon  fishing  on  the  Ristigouche 
River,  in  northern  New  Brunswick. 

Possessed  of  a  fine  literary  taste,  he  wrote  in  charm- 
ing manner  upon  his  favorite  subjects,  contributing 
most  often  to  the  Atlantic  Monthly  and  the  Nation.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  beautiful  illustrated  work,  entitled 
The  Ristigouche  and  its  Salmon  Fishing;  with  a  Chap- 
ter on  Angling.  (Illustrations  and  Maps.  Edinburgh, 
4to,  1888.)  He  was  also  joint  editor  of  the  volume  on 
Salmon  and  Trout  in  the  American  Sportsman  Library. 

Mr.  Sage  fully  shared  the  interest  of  his  father  in 
Cornell  University.  He  endowed  the  preachership  in 
the  Sage  Chapel  in  1874,  a  gift  which  has  been  in- 
creased by  contributions  from  other  members  of  the 
family  since  his  death.  He  also  gave  the  building  for 
the  Ithaca  Medical  College.  In  company  with  his 
brother,  William  H.  Sage,  he  gave  the  infirmary  and 
endowed  it.  Shunning  ostentation  and  publicity,  his 
benefactions  were  the  expression  of  natural  generosity. 
An  object  presented  to  him  was  sure  to  receive  more 
than  a  cold  and  calculating  estimate;  rather  he  wel- 
comed with  grateful  consideration  the  opportunity  to 
bestow  as  a  personal  service.  He  died  in  Albany,  June 
23,  1892. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      441 

William  Henry  Sage 

William  Henry  Sage,  the  younger  son  of  Henry  W. 
Sage,  was  born  in  Ithaca,  January  9,  1844.  He  re- 
ceived his  early  education  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Walker 
and  at  the  Brooklyn  Polytechnic  Institute,  and  was 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1865  with  high  standing, 
being  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa.  Entering  the 
business  of  his  father,  he  resided  in  Brooklyn  until 
1880,  when  he  removed  to  Ithaca.  From  the  latter 
place  he  removed  in  1898  to  Menands,  near  Albany,  his 
present  residence. 

Mr.  Sage  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  university  from 
1888  to  1904.  He  was  active  while  living  at  Ithaca  in 
the  development  of  the  university  and  in  its  growth 
upon  the  aesthetic  side.  He  gave  the  organ  for  the 
chapel.  Through  his  generosity  a  stone  arch  bridge 
over  Cascadilla  was  erected,  and  the  driveways  were 
greatly  improved.  He  purchased  and  presented  to  the 
university  the  fine  Zarncke  library,  containing  over 
thirteen  thousand  volumes  of  works  upon  German  lit- 
erature, including  many  special  collections,  the  finest 
library  for  the  study  of  German  literature  at  the  time 
in  America.  Mr.  Sage  also  joined  with  his  brother, 
Dean  Sage,  in  giving  his  father's  residence  for  an  in- 
firmaiy,  and  in  endowing  that  institution  with  a  gift  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  decoration  of  the 
Sage  Chapel  is  due  to  his  generosity.  Other  impor- 
tant gifts  have  shown  his  continued  and  intelligent 
interest  in  the  university. 


Alfred  Smith  Barnes 

Alfred  Smith  Barnes,  who  presented  Barnes  Hall  to 
the  university  for  the  use  of  the  Christian  Association, 
was  born  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  January  28,  1817.     He 


442      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

worked  upon  Ms  uncle's  farm  in  summer,  attending 
school  only  in  winter.  In  1830,  at  the  age  of  thirteen, 
he  became  a  clerk  in  his  uncle's  store,  and  the  next 
year  obtained  employment  in  a  book  store  with  a  salary 
of  thirty  dollars  a  year  and  board.  Six  years  later 
the  firm  by  which  he  was  employed  removed  to  New 
York ;  and  in  1838  Mr.  Barnes  formed  a  copartnership 
with  Professor  Charles  Davies  for  the  purpose  of  pub- 
lishing the  mathematical  works  of  which  Professor 
Davies  was  the  author.  This  concern  began  business 
in  Hartford  in  1840,  but  removed  to  Philadelphia  in 
1844  and  to  New  York  in  the  following  year.  It  soon 
became  one  of  the  largest  publishing  houses  in  the  de- 
partment of  school  literature  in  America. 

Mr.  Barnes  conceived  the  idea  of  a  national  series 
of  educational  text-books,  embracing  all  subjects  taught 
in  schools  or  colleges.  These  series  became  exceedingly 
successful.  Single  volumes  of  the  publications  of  his 
house  had  a  sale  of  a  million  copies.  The  firm  estab- 
lished and  published  the  Magazine  of  American  His- 
tory. 

Mr.  Barnes  inherited  a  deeply  religious  nature,  and 
the  influence  of  his  home  strengthened  his  earliest  con- 
victions. With  the  possession  of  wealth,  his  mind 
turned  to  the  question  how  wealth  may  be  best  em- 
ployed. He  gave  largely  for  religious  purposes,  for 
hospitals,  for  missionary  societies,  and  for  libraries 
and  public  institutions.  A  face  of  singular  attractive- 
ness, irradiated  by  the  charm  of  a  character  full  of 
kindness  and  generosity,  was  the  index  of  his  life.  He 
exercised  a  wide  influence  in  business  circles,  and 
always  for  good. 

He  was  elected  a  trustee  in  1878,  serving  in  that 
capacity  until  his  death,  on  February  17,  1888.  Mr. 
Barnes  married  Harriet,  the  daughter  of  General  Tim- 
othy Burr  of  Rochester,  on  November  10,  1841.     He 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      443 

married,  second,  November  7,  1883,  Mrs.  Mary  Mat- 
thews Smith. 

Daniel  B.  Fayeriveather 

On  November  15,  1890,  Daniel  B.  Fayerweather, 
until  then  a  quite  unknown  man,  died  at  his  .residence 
in  New  York,  leaving  by  his  will  the  major  part  of  his 
estate  to  various  institutions — five  hospitals,  twenty- 
one  colleges,  and  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of 
that  city.  The  total  amount  thus  distributed  was  $2,- 
150,000;  and  included  in  the  gifts  was  one  of  $200,000 
to  Cornell  University.  After  bequests  to  his  widow,  her 
sister,  and  several  relatives,  Mr.  Fayerweather  made 
this  provision:  "  All  the  rest,  residue,  and  remainder 
of  my  estate,  real  and  personal,  of  which  I  shall  die 
possessed,  I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  unto  my  ex- 
ecutors to  have  and  hold  the  same  in  trust,  neverthe- 
less to  sell  and  convert  into  cash,  and  to  divide  the 
same  equally,  among  the  several  corporations  men- 
tioned in  the  ninth  paragraph  of  this  my  will,  share 
and  share  alike." 

The  value  of  his  property  was  supposed  at  the  time 
of  his  death  to  be  about  three  million  dollars,  but 
proved  to  be  some  five  millions.  Living  a  quiet  life  de- 
voted to  business,  in  the  leather  trade  in  that  part  of 
New  York  called  the  "  Swamp,"  Mr.  Fayerweather 
had  not  been  suspected  of  possessing  more  than  a  sub- 
stantial competence.  Possibly  only  his  legal  advisers 
were  aware  of  the  amount  bequeathed  in  his  will.  Six 
years  after  making  the  testament  he  added  a  codicil, 
in  which  it  was  provided  that  the  residue  of  his  estate 
should  go  to  the  executors,  thus  canceling  the  former 
stipulations  for  its  disposal.  The  codicil  making  this 
change  was  signed  on  the  day  of  his  death;  the  object 
being  to  guard  against  any  possible  contest  which  might 


444     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

arise  under  the  statute  forbidding  a  gift  of  more  than 
one-half  of  an  estate  for  charity  or  educational  pur- 
poses, in  case  the  testator  had  a  wife  or  children  living. 
The  provisions  of  the  will  were  accepted  by  Mrs.  Fayer- 
weather.  The  executors  understood  and  interpreted 
their  legacy  to  admit  of  an  independent  distribution 
of  the  residuary  estate  without  reference  to  the  pur- 
poses of  Mr.  Fayerweather  expressed  in  his  selection 
of  colleges.  They  therefore  disposed  of  over  two  mil- 
lion dollars,  dividing  it  among  eighteen  colleges,  four 
schools,  and  some  eleven  hospitals.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  gifts  to  Yale  University  and  to  two  hospitals, 
the  institutions  mentioned  had  not  been  included  among 
those  originally  specified  in  the  will. 

A  suit  was  therefore  brought  by  certain  colleges, 
claiming  that  Mr.  Fayerweather  did  not  by  the  codicil 
change  his  purpose  as  expressed  in  his  will,  codicil,  and 
private  memorandum.  The  court  held  that  the  exe- 
cutors of  the  will  had  no  power  to  divert  the  estate  to 
institutions  other  than  those  mentioned  in  the  original 
will,  and  that  there  was  an  understanding  that  the  pur- 
poses of  the  deed  should  be  carried  out  in  the  codicil. 
The  original  decision  against  the  executors,  rendered 
on  December  28,  1894,  was  affirmed  by  the  General 
Term  upon  appeal,  and  later  by  the  Court  of  Appeals. 
The  case  was  then  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  where  the  original  judgment  was  sus- 
tained (1904),  thus  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the 
testator. 

John  Davidson  Rockefeller 

John  Davidson  Rockefeller,  son  of  William  A.  and 
Eliza  (Davidson)  Rockefeller,  was  born  in  Richford, 
Tioga  County,  N.  Y.,  July  8,  1839.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  in  limited  circumstances,  and  the  son  obtained 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      445 


his  earliest  education  at  the  district  schools  near  the 
paternal  home  in  the  country.  In  1853  the  family  re- 
moved to  Cleveland,  where  John  D.  Rockefeller  entered 
the  High  School.  About  this  time  he  united  with  the 
Erie  Street,  now  the  Euclid  Avenue,  Baptist  church. 
Two  years  later  he  took  a  summer  course  in  a  com- 
mercial college.  He  then  became  bookkeeper  and 
cashier  in  an  office  with  a  salary  of  three  dollars  per 
week.  In  1858,  with  one  thousand  dollars  saved  and 
one  thousand  dollars  borrowed,  he  formed  the  firm  of 
Clark  &  Rockefeller,  in  the  produce  commission  busi- 
ness. 

The  next  year  the  first  oil  well  was  opened  at  Titus- 
ville.  Pa.     In  recognition  of  the  importance  of  a  new 
method  of  retming  oil,  discovered  by  Samuel  Adams, 
the  firm  of  Andrews,  Clark  &  Rockefeller  was  formed 
to  use  the  process,  and  a  small  refinery  was  built 
(1860),  Mr.  Rockefeller  putting  four  thousand  dollars 
into  the  venture.     The  enterprise,  originally  begun  in 
Cleveland,  was  extended  to  New  York,  and  a  partner- 
ship was  formed  by  Mr.  Rockefeller  with  his  brother 
William,  who  had  already  engaged  in  the  same  under- 
taking in  that  city.    In  1865  H.  M.  Flagler  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  firm  of  William  Rockefeller  &  Company, 
the  title  of  the  New  York  house.    In  1870  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  was  formed,  and  in  1881  the  Standard 
Oil  Trust,  which  was  dissolved  in  1892.     The  growth 
of  the  oil  industry  has  probably  not  been  equaled  by 
that  of  any  other  in  the  history  of  commerce.    With 
the  discovery  of  new  wells,  pipe-lines  were  constructed 
to  the  sea,  and  railroads  organized  or  acquired.    The 
vast  increase  of  the  wealth  of  the  original  proprietors 
is  one  of  the  familiar  facts  of  our  times. 

Mr.  Rockefeller  has  recognized  that  the  possession 
of  riches  is  a  trust  involving  serious  and  imperative 
responsibilities.    He  has  given  with  great  generosity 


446     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

to  educational  and  religious  interests.  The  endow- 
ment of  the  University  of  Chicago  is  his  greatest  single 
benefaction.  He  gave  to  Cornell  University  a  quarter 
of  a  million  dollars  for  a  Hall  of  Physics,  on  condition 
that  a  like  sum  should  be  raised  from  other  sources. 
While  many  of  the  larger  benevolences  of  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller are  known,  innumerable  smaller  gifts  are  known 
only  to  the  recipients.  These  have  been  bestowed  si- 
lently, and  have  wrought  their  mission  of  good  un- 
observed of  the  world. 

Andrew  Carnegie 

Andrew  Carnegie  was  born  in  Dunfermline,  Scot- 
land, November  27,  1837.  His  father  was  a  master- 
weaver,  owning  a  few  damask  looms  and  employing 
apprentices.  Master-weavers  of  that  time  produced 
the  cloth  on  hand  looms,  the  material  being  supplied  by 
merchants.  As  mills  for  the  manufacture  of  linen  de- 
veloped, the  occupation  of  small  manufacturers  de- 
clined. The  first  serious  lesson  of  the  boy's  life  came 
to  him  at  the  age  of  ten,  when  his  father  returned 
home  in  distress  because  there  was  no  more  work  for 
him  to  do.  Even  then  the  lad  resolved  that  the  terror 
of  poverty  should  be  driven  away,  if  it  were  possible 
for  this  to  be  done.  In  1847  the  family  removed  to 
America,  settling  in  Allegheny,  and  later  in  Pittsburg. 
Here  the  youth  entered  a  cotton  factory,  serving  as  a 
bobbin  boy  and,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  receiving 
one  dollar  and  twenty  cents  a  week.  The  mother 
bound  shoes  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  family. 
At  fourteen  the  lad  became  a  messenger  boy  in  a  tele- 
graph office,  and  learned  the  art  of  telegraphy  mainly 
by  listening  to  the  click  of  the  instruments,  receiving 
the  message  by  the  ear,  an  accomplishment  at  that  time 
very  unusual.     Later  he  was  made  an  operator,  with 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      U1 


a  salary  of  twenty-five  dollars  a  month.  His  fidelity 
and  alertness  soon  won  for  him  a  similar  position  on 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  He  learned  incidentally 
to  dispatch  trains,  and  soon  became  superintendent  of 
the  western  division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

Fortune  brought  him  in  contact  with  Mr.  Woodruff, 
the  inventor  of  the  sleeping-car,  and  this  association, 
leading  to  an  investment  in  Mr.  Woodruif 's  enterprise, 
proved  his  first  step  to  fortune.  The  purchase  of  an 
interest  in  a  farm  where  oil  wells  were  found  estab- 
lished him  in  a  competency.  He  organized  the  Key- 
stone Bridge  Company  to  manufacture  iron  bridges, 
and  by  degrees  rose  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  iron 
founders  of  the  times.  The  immense  iron  and  steel 
works  which  he  founded  became  a  part  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Company,  one  of  the  foremost  organiza- 
tions of  capital  and  industry  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  not  been  simply  a  business  man. 
His  early  training  gave  him  sympathy  with  the  poor 
and  with  those  whose  life  is  consumed  in  struggle.  He 
has  a  profound  faith  in  America  and  in  democratic 
institutions;  and  his  reflective  mind,  informed  by  the 
teachings  of  his  own  experience,  possesses  a  broad  and 
original  grasp  of  the  great  problems  of  business,  of 
labor  and  capital,  and  of  political  economy.  His  first 
book,  which  attracted  attention  both  in  England  and 
America,  was  An  American  Four-in-hand  in  Britain 
(1883).  This  was  followed  by  Around  the  World 
(1884)  and  Triumphant  Democracy  (1886).  His  mas- 
tery of  the  features  of  republican  institutions,  and  of 
their  relations  to  industry  and  character,  is  presented 
in  a  most  brilliant  and  striking  manner  in  the  last 
volume,  which  has  been  translated  into  the  leading 
languages  of  Europe.  He  is  also  distinguished  by  in- 
tense belief  in  humanity  and  in  the  education  of  the 
masses,  and  has  accordingly  devoted  vast  sums  to  the 


448      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

founding  of  libraries  in  America,  in  Great  Britain,  and 
in  the  English  colonies.  He  has  erected  1,290  library 
buildings  at  a  cost  of  $39,325,240.  According  to  a 
recent  calculation  his  aggregate  gifts  for  public  pur- 
poses, including  those  for  libraries  and  educational 
and  scientific  institutions,  amount  to  $101,488,633.  In 
some  of  the  states  more  than  half  the  population  have 
access  to  libraries  which  he  has  established.  He  gave 
ten  million  dollars  to  the  Scotch  universities.  The 
Carnegie  Institute  in  Washington,  for  promoting  ad- 
vanced research,  was  his  foundation;  he  gave  it  ten 
million  dollars,  and  a  similar  sum  to  the  Carnegie  In- 
stitute at  Pittsburg.  His  benefactions  for  the  year 
1904  reached  the  sum  of  twenty-one  million  dollars. 

Mr.  Carnegie's  academic  honors  have  been  granted 
in  recognition  not  only  of  his  generosity,  but  also  of 
his  literary  merits  and  his  contributions  to  economic 
thought.  He  has  been  elected  to  the  distinguished 
office  of  Lord  Rector  of  the  Universities  of  Edinburgh 
and  Glasgow,  from  which  institutions  he  has  received 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

He  was  elected  a  trustee  of  Cornell  University  in 
1890.  The  broad  policy  upon  which  the  university  was 
founded,  the  equality  of  all  learning,  and  especially  the 
lofty  ideal  of  Mr.  Cornell  in  establishing  an  institution 
for  the  laboring  classes,  appealed  profoundly  to  his 
sympathy.  His  friendship  for  Dr.  White  and  Dr. 
Thurston  was  an  important  personal  factor  in  this  in- 
terest. When  the  university  was  smitten  by  contagion 
and  the  careers  of  many  students  seemed  to  be  brought 
to  an  end,  Mr.  Carnegie  generously  offered  to  meet  the 
expenses  of  the  sickness  of  all  students  who  needed 
such  assistance,  and  also  to  erect  a  filtration  plant 
which  should  guarantee  pure  water  to  the  university. 
Such  a  donation  at  such  a  time,  and  given  in  so  gra- 
cious and  kindly  a  way,  has  caused  him  to  be  regarded 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      449 

in  a  grateful  and  indeed  personal  relation  by  the  stu- 
dents of  the  university. 

Frederick  William  Guiteau 

Frederick  William  Guiteau  was  born  at  Trenton, 
Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  September  12,  1811, — the  fourth 
and  youngest  son  of  Dr.  Luther  Guiteau  and  Nancy 
Billings  his  wife.  The  father  was  born  at  Lanes- 
borough,  Mass.,  in  1778,  and  having  studied  medicine 
went  to  Trenton  (then  Oldenbarneveld)  in  1802,  a  vil- 
lage quite  as  prosperous  in  those  days  as  Utica,  it 
being  one  of  two  agencies  of  the  Holland  Land  Com- 
pany, which  owned  a  goodly  portion  of  the  state  of 
New  York.  The  little  community  of  Trenton  is,  more- 
over, famous  in  the  annals  of  New  York  State  for  the 
many  distinguished  families  and  eminent  scholars  that 
resided  there.  Frederick  W.  Guiteau 's  grandfather 
was  also  a  physician.  Dr.  Francis  Guiteau  of  Lanes- 
borough,  a  man  prominent  in  his  profession  and  a 
patriot  in  the  Revolution.  The  Guiteau  family  is  of 
Huguenot  descent,  having  emigrated  from  France  to 
England  and  America  at  the  time  of  the  Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Many  of  Mr.  Guiteau 's  French 
ancestors  were  physicians. 

Frederick  W.  Guiteau  was  educated  in  the  district 
school  at  Trenton  until  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  subse- 
quently taught  a  large  school  of  eighty  pupils  at  Pros- 
pect, a  sister  village. 

At  nineteen  he  entered  the  employ  of  Mr.  Ammi 
Dows  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  a  produce  and  commission  mer- 
chant, at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  year.  He 
was  so  active  in  the  business  of  the  firm,  so  useful  and 
so  faithful,  that  early  in  the  second  year,  and  before 
he  was  twenty-one,  he  was  admitted  as  partner,  the 
firm  style  thereupon  becoming  Dows  &  Guiteau.    In 


450     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

1835  a  New  York  house  was  opened,  to  which  in  a  few 
years  all  the  business  was  removed.  He  continued  in 
business  in  that  city  until  1857,  when  impaired  health 
caused  him  to  retire,  and  to  go  abroad  for  an  extended 
tour,  accompanied  by  his  only  sister,  Mrs.  N.  G.  Howe. 
Soon  after  returning,  he  removed  to  his  beautiful 
country-seat  at  Irvington-on-the-Hudson,  where  he 
subsequently  resided. 

While  not  enjoying  the  privileges  of  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, Mr.  Guiteau  had  derived  from  his  parents  a 
love  for  knowledge.  During  his  early  years  in  Utica 
he  set  apart  certain  evenings  of  each  week  for  study, 
allowing  no  social  engagement  to  lure  him  from  his 
books,  and  he  then  began  collecting  a  library,  which, 
though  modest  in  size,  contained  only  the  world's  best 
literature.  These  traits  were  characteristic  of  him 
throughout  his  life.  He  contributed  a  large  sum  for 
founding  tlie  Guiteau  Library  at  Irvington. 

He  was  a  remarkably  strong  personality.  Possessed 
of  a  wonderful  memory,  with  his  rare  conversational 
powers  he  was  a  charming  raconteur.  The  soul  of 
honor,  he  thoroughly  detested  trickery  and  deceit.  He 
was  tenacious  of  his  principles  and  purposes,  but  was 
ever  the  courteous,  courtly  gentleman.  His  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  young  men  was  especially  marked,  and 
found  expression  in  his  noteworthy  bequest  for  the 
benefit  of  those  seeking  a  higher  education. 

The  clauses  in  his  will  relating  to  Cornell  University 
were  as  follows : 

I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  Cornell  University,  situated  in  the 
town  of  Ithaca,  in  the  county  of  Tompkins,  N.  Y.,  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  said  sum  I  hereby  direct  to  be 
invested  by  the  board  of  directors  of  said  university  in  lawful 
securities,  to  constitute  a  fund  to  be  called  by  and  bear  the  name 
of  F.  W.  Guiteau,  and  the  earnings  thereof  to  be  used  in  advancing 
and  assisting  needful  worthy  young  men  in  pursuing  their  studies 
in  said  university. 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      451 


I  ^ve  and  bequeath  all  the  rest,  residue,  and  remainder  of  my 
estate,  of  every  kind  or  nature,  both  real  and  i>ersonal,  to  the  Cor- 
nell University,  upon  the  same  trust  and  for  the  same  purpose,  and 
to  be  added  to  the  fund  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  g-iven  in 
the  sixth  clause  or  paragraph  of  my  will. 

The  amount  of  the  sum  thus  bequeathed  is  estimated 
at  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 
Mr.  Guiteau  died  October  5, 1903,  aged  ninety-two. 

Alfred  C.  Barnes 

Alfred  C.  Barnes  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  October 
27,  1842.  He  was  educated  at  private  schools  and  the 
Polytechnic  Institute  in  Brooklyn,  entered  the  business 
of  his  father  as  mailing  clerk,  and  became  a  partner 
with  him  in  1865.  He  planned  Barnes's  Brief  History 
of  the  United  States,  often  said  to  be  the  most  popular 
text-book  ever  published  in  America. 

Mr.  Barnes  enlisted  in  the  famous  Seventh  Regiment 
of  New  York  in  1860,  and  served  in  the  brief  but  im- 
portant campaign  in  which  that  regiment  participated 
in  1861  for  the  national  defense.  He  was  later  trans- 
ferred to  the  Twenty-third  Regiment,  entering  as  ser- 
geant, and  in  May,  1864,  being  appointed  first  lieu- 
tenant. He  also  served  in  the  campaign  of  1863,  at  the 
time  of  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania.  His  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Corning  when  the  railway  riots  oc- 
curred in  that  city,  and,  by  his  firmness  and  courage, 
the  disturbances  were  suppressed  without  resort  to 
force.  In  1879  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Cor- 
nell as  brigadier-general  and  inspector  of  rifle  prac- 
tice in  the  National  Guard  of  New  York.  From  1884 
to  1886  he  was  colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment. 

General  Barnes  filled  many  positions  of  honor  and 
trust  in  the  city  in  which  he  resided.  He  was  a  trustee 
of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  and  the  Brooklyn  Library. 


452      CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

Upon  the  consolidation  of  several  of  the  great  houses 
engaged  in  the  publication  of  educational  text-books, 
and  the  formation  of  the  American  Book  Company,  he 
became  vice-president  of  that  corporation.  He  was 
elected  president  of  the  Astor  Place  Bank  (New  York 
City)  in  1891. 

His  death  occurred  on  the  28th  of  November,  1904. 

General  Barnes  gave  to  the  university  the  Fuertes 
Geodetic  Observatory,  which,  at  his  request,  received 
the  name  of  Director  Fuertes.  He  also  gave  and  sus- 
tained the  Barnes  Reference  Library  in  Barnes  Hall. 
Since  his  death  his  son,  Mr.  A.  Victor  Barnes,  and  Ms 
daughter,  Mrs.  Harriet  Barnes  Newberry,  have  pre- 
sented to  the  university  $5,000,  the  income  of  which 
is  to  be  used  in  enlarging  the  library. 

Oliver  H.  Payne 

Colonel  Oliver  H.  Payne  was  born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
and  is  the  only  now  surviving  son  of  Hon.  Henry  B. 
Payne  of  that  city.  His  father  was  a  distinguished 
lawyer,  identified  with  railway  and  other  large  cor- 
porate interests,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  from  Ohio  for  the  years  1886  to  1892. 
One  of  the  sisters  of  Colonel  Payne  married  the  late 
Hon.  William  C.  Whitney  of  New  York  City. 
*  Mr.  Payne  was  graduated  from  Yale  University  in 
the  class  of  1863.  A  resident  of  New  York  City,  he 
has  long  been  prominent  in  financial  affairs,  and  is  a 
director  of  many  manufacturing,  mining,  and  railway 
companies,  banks,  etc.  He  is  a  member  of  a  number 
of  the  principal  social  organizations  of  the  metropolis. 

He  was  the  founder  (1898)  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Cornell  University.  His  benefactions  to  the 
university  have  been  given  with  a  liberal  and  public 
spirit. 


WILL  A  El)  FTSKE 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      453 

Willard  Fiske 

"Willard  Fiske,  the  first  librarian  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, was  born  at  Ellisburgh,  N.  Y.,  November  11,  1831. 
After  spending  two  years  (1847-48)  in  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, he  determined  to  go  to  Scandinavia,  and  com- 
pleted his  studies  at  the  University  of  Upsala,  where 
he  became  imbued  with  a  life-long  devotion  to  Norse 
literature,  and  began  to  form  a  collection  of  Icelandic 
books. 

Returning  to  America  he  was  employed  from  1852  to 
1859  as  assistant-librarian  in  the  Astor  Library.  Here 
he  received  his  training  in  librarianship  under  J.  C. 
Cogswell,  and  continued  his  bibliographical  studies. 
Taking  up  chess  as  a  recreation,  he  founded  the  Chess 
Monthly,  which  he  edited  from  1857  to  1860,  latterly 
in  conjunction  with  Paul  Morphy.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  the  organization  of  the  chess  congress  of  1857, 
and  in  1859  published  The  Book  of  the  First  American 
Chess  Congress,  including  an  American  chess  bibliog- 
raphy. In  1860  he  was  secretary  of  the  American 
Geographical  Society,  and  in  the  next  year  went  to 
Vienna  as  secretary  to  Minister  Motley.  Returning 
again  to  America,  he  spent  the  next  few  years  in  jour- 
nalistic work  on  the  Hartford  Courant  and  the  Syra- 
cuse Journal.  In  1868,  while  on  a  visit  to  Egypt,  he 
was  appointed  professor  of  North  European  languages 
and  librarian  in  the  newly  founded  Cornell  University. 

At  that  time  the  college  libraries  were  looked  upon 
as  mere  storehouses,  from  which  books  might  be  taken 
for  home  reading,  and  as  a  rule  were  open  for  only  one 
or  two  hours  on  certain  days  of  the  week.  Mr.  Fiske 's 
ideal  of  a  university  library  was  a  reference  library, 
like  the  Bodleian  or  the  Astor,  which  should  be  the  lit- 
erary workshop  of  the  university  and  afford  the  great- 
est possible  facilities  to  earnest  students  in  their  re- 


454     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

searches.  Accordingly,  the  university  library  was 
made  primarily  a  reference  library;  from  the  first  it 
was  open  nine  hours  daily,  and  he  used  to  take  pride 
in  saying  that  it  was  kept  open  longer  hours  than  any 
other  university  library  in  the  land.  Under  his  wise 
guidance  the  policy  of  building  up  a  great  reference 
library  was  steadily  pursued,  though  often  under  try- 
ing conditions.  By  gift  or  purchase  the  valuable 
libraries  of  such  scholars  as  Goldwin  Smith,  Franz 
Bopp,  Charles  Anthon,  and  Jared  Sparks  were  secured 
for  the  university,  and  vigorous  efforts  were  made  to 
obtain  larger  and  more  regular  appropriations  for  the 
increase  of  the  library.  In  addition  to  his  work  as 
librarian  he  gave  instruction  in  German,  Swedish,  and 
Icelandic,  and  was  both  popular  and  successful  as  a 
teacher. 

In  1874,  incited  by  his  interest  in  Iceland's  millennial 
celebration,  he  organized  a  movement  which  resulted 
in  a  large  gift  of  books  to  the  Icelandic  libraries,  but  it 
was  not  till  1879  that  he  made  his  first  visit  to  that 
northern  island.  His  marriage  to  Miss  Jennie  Mc- 
Graw  took  place  at  Berlin  in  1880,  and  during  their 
travels  in  Europe  he  began  the  formation  of  his  now 
famous  Petrarch  collection.  After  a  winter  in  Egypt 
they  returned  to  Ithaca,  where  Mrs.  Fiske  died  in  Sep- 
tember, 1881.  By  her  will,  after  providing  generously 
for  her  husband  and  relatives,  her  residuary  estate 
was  bequeathed  to  the  university  library.  In  the  ad- 
ministration of  her  estate  unfortunate  misunderstand- 
ings arose,  and  in  1883,  acting  upon  the  advice  of  legal 
friends,  who  pointed  out  that  an  overlooked  clause  in 
the  charter  of  the  university  seemed  to  prevent  the 
retention  of  the  bequest  made  to  the  library,  Mr.  Fiske 
resigned  the  librarianship,  and  a  suit  was  begun  in  his 
name  to  settle  the  question.  After  a  long  litigation 
it  was  finally  decided  that  the  university  was  in  fact 


CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY      455 


unable,  under  its  charter,  to  take  and  hold  the  bequest. 
The  residuary  estate  was  then  divided  among  the  heirs, 
Mr.  Fiske  receiving  a  large  share  of  it.  Meantime,  he 
had  taken  up  his  residence  in  Florence,  and  eventually- 
purchased  the  Villa  Landor,  the  home  of  his  later 
years.  Here  he  devoted  his  leisure  to  the  enlargement 
and  cataloguing  of  his  Icelandic  and  Petrarch  collec- 
tions, publishing  a  series  of  "■  Bibliographical  No- 
tices "  dealing  with  these  collections. 

In  1891  a  summer  visit  of  five  weeks  to  the  Engadine 
region  bore  fruit  in  a  collection  of  Rha?to-Romanic  lit- 
erature, numbering  over  a  thousand  volumes,  which  he 
presented  to  Cornell  University  library  as  a  token  of 
his  good  will.  This  gift  was  followed  two  years  later 
by  his  gift  of  a  remarkable  Dante  collection,  which, 
through  his  later  additions  to  it,  now  numbers  7,000 
volumes.  The  story  of  this  collection,  in  forming 
which  he  again  displayed  his  wonderful  skill  and  abil- 
ity as  a  book  collector,  is  gracefully  told  by  himself  in 
the  introduction  to  the  printed  catalogue  of  the  collec- 
tion, issued  in  1900. 

Mr.  Fiske 's  repeated  visits  to  Egypt  revealed  to  him 
another  field  of  activity,  and  for  a  number  of  years  he 
devoted  much  time  and  money  to  the  task  of  perfecting 
and  popularizing  what  he  termed  ''An  Eg}i:>tian  alpha- 
bet for  the  Egyptian  people,"  based  upon  Spitta's  sys- 
tem of  transcription.  In  the  course  of  this  work  he  made 
a  very  complete  collection  of  the  literature  of  transcrip- 
tion, which  he  afterwards  presented  to  the  Cornell 
University  library.  His  old  interest  in  chess  also  re- 
vived, and  he  busied  himself  in  preparing  a  work  to  be 
entitled  Chess  in  Iceland  and  Icelandic  Literature, 
tvith  historical  notes  on  other  table  games.  In  July, 
1904,  he  attended  the  celebration  at  Arezzo  of  the  sixth 
century  of  the  birth  of  Petrarch.  Thence  he  proceeded 
leisurely  northward  into   Germany,  meeting  there  a 


456     CORNELL  UNIVERSITY:  A  HISTORY 

friend  from  America,  who  was  returning  with  him  to 
Florence,  when  death  overtook  him  at  Frankfort  on 
September  17,  1904. 

Generous  and  warm-hearted,  modest  and  unassum- 
ing, gifted  with  a  winning  manner,  Willard  Fiske  easily 
found  his  way  to  men's  hearts  and  made  many  firm  and 
constant  friends,  whom  he  loved  to  gather  around  his 
board,  and  by  whom  his  death  is  deeply  lamented.  In 
his  bibliographical  work  he  was  insistent  upon  the 
minutest  accuracy  and  indefatigable  in  following  up 
every  possible  clew  to  the  knowledge  he  sought.  As  a 
librarian  he  had  little  sympathy  with  what  has  been 
aptly  called  the  ' '  frying-pan  ideal  ' '  of  the  library,  or 
with  those  who  look  upon  books  as  so  many  brick-bats 
to  be  scattered  broadcast  as  rapidly  as  possible.  He  had 
the  greatest  sympathy  with  the  needs  of  earnest  stu- 
dents, and  took  pleasure  in  encouraging  beginners  in 
the  work  of  research.  He  loved  books  with  a  scholar's 
love,  and  his  greatest  desire  was  to  have  his  collections 
used  by  scholars.  It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  this  de- 
sire is  to  be  realized,  for  by  his  will  his  Icelandic  and 
Petrarch  collections  are  bequeathed  to  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, already  the  home  of  the  Dante  and  Rhaeto- 
Romanic  collections.  In  his  will  special  provision  is 
made  for  the  care  and  increase  of  the  Dante,  Petrarch, 
and  Icelandic  collections,  and  practically  all  the  re- 
mainder of  his  fortune,  subject  to  some  annuities,  is 
bequeathed  to  the  university  for  the  use  and  purposes 
of  the  library  without  further  instruction.  This  be- 
quest will  add  eventually  about  half  a  million  dollars 
to  the  library  endowment. 


D     000  334  977     6 


ill 


